Meet Christian Provancha.
Never heard of him? That’s not surprising; the closest Provancha has ever gotten to a college football field is the sideline.
But with starting quarterback Jeff Driskel (leg) out for the season and second-string signal-caller Tyler Murphy (shoulder) questionable after missing Florida’s 19-14 loss to South Carolina on Saturday, Provancha is as close to playing as he will likely ever be.
Before the Gators’ loss to the Gamecocks, Florida’s coaching staff moved Provancha to second on the depth chart behind redshirt freshman Skyler Mornhinweg, who was making his first career start.
One missed block or one determined linebacker could knock Mornhinweg out, and the 6-foot-6 Provancha would take the reins.
“Everyone hopes to be in this situation where you have the opportunity to contribute, but not like this,” Provancha said. “You want to work your way up the ladder with skill. We’ve been plagued by injury and stuff, but I was just really happy to be able to show that I’m there for the team.”
Until recently, the redshirt junior’s job has been to signal plays to the quarterback — a literal signal caller.
He has served ancillary roles, such as manning the scout team and imitating other team’s quarterbacks without much chance to show off his own skills.
“I’ve done [former Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray] in the past,” Provancha said. “I mean any tall, white quarterbacks out there.”
But coaches moved other players into the scout-team role so they could develop at the position.
Even now, Provancha is only the second-string quarterback because the Florida staff does not want to burn freshman Max Staver’s redshirt.
“Not at this stage,” offensive coordinator Brent Pease said of Staver playing.
So, while Murphy continues to recover from his shoulder injury, the second-string job belongs to Provancha.
“It was a little nerve-wracking,” Provancha said. “Being a [redshirt junior], I’m supposed to be able to handle it.”
Provancha did not come to Florida for its athletics. Like so many other UF students, he came to the school for academics and because a family member already attended the school.
Provancha’s brother, Ian, went to Florida and is currently looking to enroll in UF’s medical school.
For Provancha, athletics come second to academics — a rarity in today’s college-football atmosphere that values on-field production over grade-point averages.
“As long as I was here for academics, I would have been happy,” he said.
Provancha did not have many schools vying for his services on the football field.
He said he had a scholarship offer from Florida A&M, but other schools did not show much interest.
ESPN ranked Provancha as a one-star prospect — the 167th best quarterback in his class.
“I think ESPN had me at ‘deceptively athletic,’” he said. “So, I’ll throw in a spin move every now and then.
“I’ve got a little more speed than people give me credit and a little more moves than people give me credit.”
His athleticism allowed for a brief move to wide receiver last season — a change Provancha was not thrilled with.
“I came here as a quarterback, was a quarterback three years,” he said.
“We were low on receivers, and I showed them what I got, so they put me at wide receiver.
“I guess I scared some people with the roster, a [6-foot-6] receiver. But I’m still pretty slow.”
Unlike most players, Provancha does not expect to play.
Second string is already beyond what he expected to reach during his career.
Florida has produced quarterbacks such as Danny Wuerffel, Rex Grossman and Tim Tebow. Why would a walk-on get a shot?
“Hopefully, the only situation that would happen is if we’re up by a decent amount of points,” he said, “and I don’t know if that’s a possibility.
“Hopefully, that’s the way it happens, if it does. Other than that, before last week Skyler had as many snaps as me, so he’s got to get his reps, too.”
Follow Adam Lichtenstein on Twitter @alichtenstein24.
Redshirt junior quarterback Christian Provancha, left, warms up with redshirt freshman Skyler Mornhinweg, right, prior to Florida's 24-7 victory against Kentucky on Sept. 28 at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Ky.
