With quarterback Treon Harris indefinitely suspended from team activities while he is investigated for alleged sexual battery, Jeff Driskel will be Florida’s starter on Saturday when UF (3-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) plays host to LSU (4-2, 0-2 SEC) at 7:30 p.m.
While coach Will Muschamp knew Driskel was going to have time on the field against the Tigers, he did not have a starter selected between Driskel and Harris heading into the week.
"Jeff was going to play in the game," Muschamp said. "I do know that."
Driskel was benched in favor of Harris with eight seconds remaining in the third quarter of Florida’s 10-9 win against Tennessee.
Harris led UF’s offense on both of its scoring drives, and Driskel finished the day against the Volunteers completing 11 of his 23 passes for 59 yards while throwing three interceptions.
"Jeff’s a tough young man. He’s resilient," Muschamp said. "I met with him Sunday and I talked to him after the game and talked to him Monday. He understands there’s some situation. He needs to play better. He takes full responsibility to be the quarterback at the University of Florida."
But now the focus has shifted from who will start against LSU to who will be Driskel’s backup.
Muschamp said Wednesday that redshirt sophomore Skyler Mornhinweg and true freshman Will Grier are splitting the second-team reps in practice this week.
Grier is a four-star recruit out of Davidson Day (N.C.) High and the second-ranked dual-threat quarterback in the 2014 recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. He tallied 90 total touchdowns and more than 6,000 total yards in his senior year of high school alone.
Grier missed three weeks of practice with back spasms but was cleared to practice again on Sunday.
"I didn’t see a lot of rust from him as far as those things," Muschamp said of Grier. "He’s been involved in all the meetings."
Muschamp admitted Wednesday that he had thoughts about redshirting Grier but the discussions did not go too far.
"We hadn’t really made a decision considering the length we still had to go in the season," Muschamp said. "So, you know, we had not had that discussion as far as redshirt at that time. Given the situation of having two guys that had played to that point in the season, that’s probably where we were headed. Certainly given the situation right now, obviously not."
Mornhinweg started Florida’s final three games of the 2013 season following season-ending injuries to Driskel and then-backup Tyler Murphy.
In those three games, the Philadelphia native recorded 344 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while completing 69.8 percent of his passes.
Mornhinweg and freshman defensive lineman Gerald Willis were in an altercation involving a pair of cleats Monday evening that resulted in University Police being dispatched.
Neither player pressed charges, and Muschamp clarified the incident on Wednesday and said that the two are not receiving disciplinary action.
"It was a tremendous misunderstanding," Muschamp said. "I tell you what, we’ve made a big one out of this. We’ve got an air thing that takes the wetness out of the cleats. Skyler last year was No. 17 and Jordan Sherit’s No. 17 this year. Gerald was coming from class and trying to get ready for practice. Couldn’t find his cleats on the air thing, and he grabbed No. 17 because he’s buddies with Jordan Sherit and he thought that’d be OK. Went out to practice, and there was a disagreement on the cleats and whose cleats they were.
"Nobody stole anything. If anybody stole anything, they wouldn’t be on this football team anymore. I can assure you of that."
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Jeff Driskel scrambles during Florida's 10-9 win against Tennessee.
