Jeff Driskel suffered a “slight sprain to the knee” against Miami, UF announced Monday. The injury was part of a forgettable, muggy Saturday in Sun Life Stadium. He is expected to return to face Tennessee on Sept. 21, aiming to build on the good — a career-high 291 passing yards — and improve on the bad — his three turnovers against the Hurricanes.
His productive day resulted in Solomon Patton’s 118 receiving yards, which marked the most productive game for a wide receiver in Driskel’s 14 games as a starter.
Eight pass plays of 15-plus yards do not matter. Leading an offense to 413 total yards does not matter. A fumble and two interceptions do.
“You can’t beat him down,” center Jon Harrison said. “You can’t attack him. You can’t criticize him about everything, because it’s not all on him. There’s no ‘I’ in team. Football definitely isn’t a singular sport. It’s a team sport, and we can’t pass all the blame on Driskel.”
Down 14-6 at the onset of the second quarter, Driskel had the Gators in the red zone. He evaded the pass rush, stepped up in the pocket and threw late over the middle for his first interception.
“It was a dumb play,” Driskel said. “I should have just taken what the defense gave me. Instead, I tried to make the bigger play. That’s what I’ve got to move on from.”
Down 14-9 with 6:57 left in the fourth, Driskel took the shotgun snap, rolled out and fired a pass into the hands of Miami cornerback Tracy Howard.
Trey Burton said he ran the wrong route and clogged the field, which caused the interception. Driskel said he never should have thrown the pass.
As for the fumble — the quarterback did not stand a chance.
Disaster struck on a third-and-7 from Florida’s own 17. Defensive lineman Tyriq McCord stripped Driskel and recovered his own forced fumble.
Two plays later, “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes blared on the sound system, and Miami had a first-and-goal at the 2-yard line.
Three plays later, Duke Johnson Jr. ran off left tackle, headed into the end zone untouched and stuck the dagger into Florida’s backs.
“[Driskel] hit some balls down the field. I thought he did some nice things in the run game, but you can’t have the turnovers, especially in the red zone,” coach Will Muschamp said. “You can’t make those decisions. You can’t. We can’t afford to take points off the board in those situations. That’s such an emotional lift for the other team. That just can’t happen.”
Three turnovers stained a 22-for-33 day for Driskel, who established a connection with his two top wideouts. He showed an ability to throw the ball down the field with his 46-yard completion to Patton in the first quarter.
The Gators are still behind their quarterback.
Driskel did not immediately address the team after the game. He showered, spoke with the media, and boarded the bus.
Like his teammates, Driskel wants to move on from a disappointing Saturday.
“Jeff is going to be all right. He made some tremendous throws out there,” receiver Quinton Dunbar said. “He just has to watch the film and get better.”
Follow Adam Pincus on Twitter @adamDpincus.
Jeff Driskel runs the ball during Florida’s 21-16 loss to Miami on Sept. 7 in Sun Life Stadium. Driskel is the Gators’ starting quarterback heading into the season, but the backup remains unknown for now.
