Barring injury, Jeff Driskel will be Florida’s starting quarterback when the Gators make their season debut against Idaho on Aug. 30 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
His understudy, on the other hand, is a roll still being auditioned for.
It could be Skyler Mornhinweg, the redshirt sophomore who has three career starts under his belt.
It could be Will Grier, the early enrollee who had 90 total touchdowns in his senior year at Davidson (N.C.) Day High and showed development during spring practice.
It could be Treon Harris, a true freshman and the third-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2014 class, according to Rivals.com.
But regardless of who earns the backup role, coach Will Muschamp made one promise: He will play in some capacity against the Vandals.
“We’ve got to get another guy ready, and that’s what we plan on doing,” the fourth-year coach said at UF’s media day on Sunday. “Who that will be, I don’t know. What sort of package we’ll have for them, I have no idea at this time.”
In 2011, Muschamp’s first season at the helm of Gators football, he put Driskel into the spotlight with 6:04 remaining in the first half of Florida’s season-opener against Florida Atlantic.
“We planned it going in,” Muschamp said. “We knew what we were going to do. We put him in the game.”
On his first drive commanding the offense outside of practice, Driskel managed two rushes for 8 yards before landing a delay of game penalty and throwing an interception to Owls defensive back Marcus Bartels.
But the Oviedo, Fla., native redeemed himself on his second drive. Re-entering the game with 8:01 left on the clock, Driskel went 4 of 5 for 42 yards on Florida’s final drive of the game.
Youth encompasses secondary: UF has 14 defensive backs on its roster for 2014.
Of those 14, sophomore Vernon Hargreaves, III is the only one with double-digit starts in his career.
But the lack of starting experience doesn’t phase Muschamp.
“I’ll take talent over experience any day,” he said.
The Gators have multiple combinations that they can implement this year in the secondary, with Hargreaves, junior Brian Poole and true freshmen Jalen Tabor, J.C. Jackson, Duke Dawson and Quincy Wilson fighting for time at the cornerback spots.
Muschamp also noted that senior Jabari Gorman, redshirt sophomore Marcus Maye, sophomore Keanu Neal and redshirt freshmen Marcell Harris and Nick Washington are vying for time at safety.
“Those guys are a good carry over,” he said. “Jalen Tabor did some nice things. Duke did some nice things. Duke’s a guy we played at the nickel a little in the spring, can play some different positions. He gives you a different skillset as far as a bigger guy — good blitzer, good instincts.”
Kicking job “open”: The Gators connected on just 12 of 22 field-goal attempts in 2013. That 54.5-percent conversion rate was 13th in the 14-team Southeastern Conference.
Even worse, UF only landed one of its eight kicks through the uprights from farther than 40 yards one year after going 8 of 9 from at least 40 yards out.
Austin Hardin is currently the frontrunner for the starting job. Despite going 4 of 12 in field goal attempts in 2013 and missing six of his final seven attempts, Hardin showed improvement during the Orange & Blue Debut, converting all four of his field goals.
“It’s open,” Muschamp said, “but I have lot more confidence (in Hardin) coming out of spring, and especially the spring game as opposed to maybe going into spring.”
The punting game struggled as well, with the Gators ending the season 11th in the conference with a 40.9-yard average per punt, almost four yards less than a year before.
Kyle Christy — a finalist for the 2012 Ray Guy Award that honors the best punter in college football — and Johnny Townsend are battling for the starting punter position.
“Over a period of time, you begin to build your confidence back,” Muschamp said, “and I think those guys have done that and it started in the spring.”
Follow Jordan McPherson on Twitter @J_McPherson1126
Austin Hardin attempts a field goal during Florida’s 19-14 loss to South Carolina on Nov. 16 at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. Hardin is the frontrunner for the starting kicking position, but he missed six of his final seven attempts in 2013.
