Treon Harris will take the first snap. What happens from there is still to be determined.
Florida coach Jim McElwain announced Wednesday that Harris will draw the start in Saturday’s season opener against New Mexico State. However, McElwain said the battle to be the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season is still up for grabs.
"I wouldn’t read that much into it," McElwain said. "Treon’s going to start the football game. Will’s going to play in that game a lot, too. … It’s a painting in progress. We’ve got to figure out what the backdrop is going to be."
And for right now, the backdrop includes both Harris and Grier.
Harris, the 5-foot-11, 195-pound sophomore who won two state titles at Miami Booker T. Washington High, went 4-2 as a starter last season and played through the bulk of UF’s Southeastern Conference schedule.
He replaced Jeff Driskel at the end of the third quarter against Tennessee and led Florida’s offense to 10 unanswered points for a 10-9 victory.
Harris finished the season with 1,019 passing yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions, playing the final three games of the regular season with a right thumb injury.
But Grier, the 6-foot-2 redshirt freshman who tossed 77 touchdowns and passed for nearly 5,000 yards in his final season at Davidson (N.C.) Day High, kept pace with Harris throughout Spring and Fall camp.
After redshirting last season — recovering from a back injury and bulking up about 20 pounds in the process — Grier looked to have a slight edge in the quarterback battle coming out of Spring practice.
McElwain said the decision was a "really close call" and neither quarterback was able to separate himself through almost 30 practices in Fall camp.
"From a coaching standpoint you’ve got to feel good about that because you’ve got two real good quarterbacks who are going to be able to go in and play the game," he said. "As you know in this business, you’d rather have it that way than the other way."
But even though Harris has the first snap, both will receive extensive playing time.
McElwain said each quarterback will have a scripted set of eight plays to start their respective first drives. From there, the play calls — and the amount of playing time each quarterback receives — will depend on the flow of the game.
"The key here guys is it’s a true partnership," McElwain said. "It’s two guys helping each other help this football team win. We’ve got some battles too. You’re always going to have battles at different positions."
And while McElwain provided a temporary answer for Saturday’s game, the quarterback battle isn’t over yet.
"As we said, someone starts, someone comes in," McElwain said. "Both of them I feel (are) deserving of it. Both of them had a really good spring and fall and we’re excited about seeing those guys play."
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Treon Harris drops back to pass during practice on Monday.
