KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Florida players filed into the cramped media room, tucked away in the bowels of Neyland Stadium’s south end zone.
Each drew its own mingling of reporters. Some needed quotes on the run game, others on the crucial turnovers.
Media bounced around, taking the essential bits of each interview and flocking to the next athlete.
"How confident were you in Austin Hardin in making that 49-yard field goal?" one journalist asked. Quote on the game-winning kick? Check.
"This win was big, right? Ten in a row against Tennessee means a lot, right?" another recorder shoved in another face. Quote on Rocky Top’s woeful decade? Check.
But then Jeff Driskel entered the room.
He took the podium that only Will Muschamp used during his postgame press conference, the Gators’ logo backdrop still in the background.
The echoed mumblings bouncing from wall to wall died abruptly. The starting quarterback was about to speak. Everyone listened. Center stage for — perhaps — the last time.
***
There was nothing spectacular about Treon Harris’ first play against Tennessee on Saturday. He did little more than turn his body to hand the ball over to Matt Jones.
Harris made Florida fans wait.
After Driskel, a redshirt junior, threw pick after pick, incompletion after incompletion, Will Muschamp couldn’t hold off any longer.
"In at quarterback for Florida," the PA boomed to the crowd of 102,455.
The fans knew what words were coming next. Ever since Driskel’s outing against Alabama on Sept. 20, the Southeastern Conference learned Harris’ name. UF fans knew Harris’ potential weeks before.
The true freshman, fresh off back-to-back state championships at Miami Booker T. Washington High, stirred up Florida’s recruiting landscape, landing at UF after flirting with the idea of playing behind Jameis Winston at FSU.
Harris’ decision to compete in Gainesville paid off early. Five weeks into his first year of eligibility, Harris is in prime position to leapfrog Driskel and become Florida’s first true freshman starting quarterback since Jacoby Brissett in 2011.
Brissett lost his battle with Driskel. Harris plans to win the war.
Harris’ first test came Saturday in the heart of Knoxville, where the Gators daggered the Volunteers’ hopes of ending a nine-game skid after pulling out an ugly 10-9 victory.
Had Driskel not exited the contest, Muschamp and company had a shot at being on the wrong end of a 9-0 shutout — even uglier.
Florida has not been held scoreless since Oct. 29, 1988, a streak unparalleled among the 128 other FBS schools. Michigan, which was the nation’s previous record holder, put up its first goose egg in 30 years earlier this season against Notre Dame.
Brady Hoke will undoubtedly be searching the classifieds come November. Will Muschamp would rather not join him.
***
Offensive linemen don’t look back.
When Harris substituted for Driskel with eight seconds left in the third quarter, the switch went unnoticed by Florida’s five up front.
"Until he was in there, really in there, I didn’t know (Harris) was back there," left tackle D.J. Humphries said. "We’re going on a silent (count) so I don’t hear a voice or anything like that."
Florida’s faithful, identified by a bold blue in a checkered sea of orange and white, shared Humphries’ reaction. Although Harris was introduced to the crowd as the Gators new quarterback, the announcement went over the heads of many of the fans. Down two possessions — albeit just nine points — the visiting fanbase had been deflated, numb, tired from their ringside seats at a one-sided boxing match.
But when Harris first stepped back in the pocket, he peaked the crowd’s interest. A forward pass, a rarity for the Gators during the first three quarters.
It wasn’t a -2 yard hitch or a swing pass to the tailback in the backfield. No, Harris scanned the coverage, spotted an open Matt Jones 12 yards out and fired a bullet in between the numbers. Florida had recorded just one other play through the air that went for 12 or more yards.
The seats in the stands may not have known that stat by the time Harris completed the throw, but they could feel it. They could feel the Gators’ offense stagnating, grinding down to a slow but steady halt.
But things now looked different. OK, it was just one play.
Still, there was promise and hope from a Florida team that was slumped in the corner, beaten black and blue, just minutes before.
"I definitely felt a spark when (Harris) was in," Jones said. "We got in a rhythm. It was a fresh start. He came in and did what he had to do and we was all just rallying around him."
A once daunting 9-0 deficit slimmed down to just a two-point advantage for the Volunteers after Harris led the Gators to a touchdown on his first drive of the afternoon.
Just seven minutes later, Florida jumped ahead of its SEC East foe for the first time. No heroics from Harris, he was just doing what he had to do — what Driskel failed to do.
***
"F*** YOU FLORIDA!"
Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.
"F*** YOU FLORIDA!"
So goes the sweet sound of victory.
And despite the language, the tone from the UT student section was less angry, and more, ‘This is how it’s supposed to go, right?’
Ten years of pain continued thanks to a freshman, one who still isn’t allowed to talk to the media.
And then there’s Driskel: the one who put up with the reporters through his struggles, the one who spent the spring learning a new playbook while rehabbing a fractured leg, the one who was deemed "the one."
The fairy tales and prayers of him being the next Tim Tebow have long been in the rearview mirror of Gator fans. Now he is fighting to stay relevant.
"I don’t know what the plan is from here, but I know coach Muschamp is going to put the guy out there who is going to have the best chance for this team," said Driskel, his voice soft and hurt, but not cracking.
Six-foot-four, 230-pound quarterbacks don’t let their emotions get the best of them, especially not in front of the cameras.
No, his answers were simply delivered softly, a voice in a cardigan.
Whether Driskel returns to his starting role is uncertain. But if he does, Muschamp will undoubtedly have some pieces to pick up, because Driskel exited the matchup with Tennessee the same way he left last year: broken.
Follow Jonathan Czupryn on Twitter @jczupryn
Freshman quarterback Treon Harris looks to pass the ball during the fourth quarter of Florida's 10-9 victory against Tennessee on Saturday at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
