The Gators take on the East Carolina Pirates for the second time in nine months on Saturday night in The Swamp, but they will do so with a different starting quarterback.
Redshirt freshman Will Grier will take the first snap in the contest for Florida, the school announced on Thursday.
Coach Jim McElwain has said all week that he will use a similar rotation to the season opener, when sophomore Treon Harris started but Grier played extensively.
Both quarterbacks will likely play roughly the same amount of time again, just in a different order.
"I’m not sure the exact pitch count," McElwain said Monday. "It worked out a little bit, we tried to sit in kind of that three series, 12 to 15 reps, go from there, and it’s just kind of in the flow of the game how it works."
Harris went 14-of-19 against New Mexico State on Saturday for 215 yards and two touchdowns, while Grier went 16 of 18 for 166 yards and three total touchdowns — two passing and one rushing.
Going into this week’s game, Harris has the advantage of having already faced East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3.
He started that contest, throwing for 123 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 5-of-11 passing in a 28-20 Florida victory.
But there has been a lot of turnover within the Pirates since that game.
They only return six starters on offense and five on defense, and they have a new offensive coordinator.
The biggest challenge the Pirates will pose to the Gators will be on the offensive side of the ball.
Last season, East Carolina finished the season ranked third in the nation in passing yards, averaging 371.9 per game.
The Pirates suffered a heavy blow when Kurt Benkert, the team’s starter, suffered a season-ending knee injury just before the start of the season, but there will still be plenty of offensive threats to test the Gators’ defense.
"They’re physical, they fly around and play with a lot of speed," McElwain said. "When you look at them offensively, they’re a team that’s not going to come in here at all and be wowed by the Florida Gators."
While having some familiarity with their opponents will be advantageous for the players who were a part of the bowl game, Florida’s players realize it’s going to be a different challenge entirely.
"It helps," senior defensive lineman Bryan Cox Jr. said, "but there’s probably going to be a lot of different things we haven’t seen before that we’re gonna see."
Aiding Florida’s defense will be the additions of defensive lineman Alex McCalister and safety Marcus Maye, who both return from one-game suspensions.
"They better have fresh legs," McElwain said. "We’ll play a lot of guys. I think they found, as they were able to watch, that life moved on. Sometimes that’s the greatest lesson that any of us can learn. Maybe that’ll put a little fire in their tank."
Safety Keanu Neal, who missed the opener with a leg injury, has a decent shot to play as well against the Pirates.
The junior practiced Wednesday for the first time in nearly three weeks, and McElwain has labeled him as questionable.
On offense, the Gators will still be without offensive lineman Martez Ivey, who had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee and is still a week away from returning to the lineup according to McElwain, as well as wide receiver Latroy Pittman, whose suspension from the opener is still ongoing.
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UF quarterback Will Grier rushes for a touchdown during Florida's 61-13 win against New Mexico State on Sept. 5, 2015, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
