Jeff Driskel threw four touchdowns against South Carolina, but he couldn’t reach triple-digit passing yards.
He hasn’t done that in three games.
Florida gained a season-low 183 yards on Saturday.
But the sophomore quarterback doesn’t care, and neither do his coaches.
“If you come into this thing every week asking me about yards, I mean, I’m not really concerned about that,” offensive coordinator Brent Pease said. “I’m concerned about winning, efficiency in the red zone, third-down conversions, (and) ball security.”
If that’s the case, Driskel and the Gators offense are having a banner year.
Florida’s first-year starter at quarterback ranks fifth in passing efficiency in the Southeastern Conference.
UF converted 47 percent of its third-down chances against top-10 opponents South Carolina and LSU. UF is eighth in the nation with a plus-11 turnover margin. Last season, Florida finished 113th of 120 teams with a minus-12 margin.
Florida averaged only 2.8 yards per play on Saturday, but the Gators didn’t have much ground to cover. Four first-half drives started within the South Carolina 30-yard line.
Florida finished the first half with 21 points and 29 yards.
“Now I’m looking at it as, ‘Are we scoring?’ We better be scoring touchdowns on that,” Pease said. “So, I’m not protecting what we do or anything, but yeah, I think it’s misleading because I don’t think that’s a good conclusion to what the total outcome was.”
Georgia linebacker presents stiff test: Jarvis Jones had a scary Halloween three years ago.
As a backup linebacker for USC, Jones suffered a sprained neck against Oregon in 2009 and missed the season’s final five games.
Lane Kiffin, who began coaching the Trojans the following spring, called it a career-threatening injury.
So ended the outside linebacker’s time at USC.
Two seasons later, he squared off against Pease and Boise State with Georgia in its 2011 season opener.
“Going in, I don’t think we knew enough about him,” Pease said. “We knew he transferred, knew he was probably a good player, but after going against him and just watching how fast he played the game, the strength he played with, how they used him, he is definitely an impact player.”
Jones earned first-team All-America honors and was second in the nation with 13.5 sacks in 2011. He recorded a career-high four sacks against Florida last season.
For the Gators’ offensive line, competing against a sack machine like Jones isn’t anything new.
Florida faced LSU’s duo of Sam Montgomery and Barkevious Mingo on Oct. 6 before squaring off with South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney on Saturday.
Jones has 5.5 sacks this season.
“They’re great players,” Pease said. “Understanding what we’ve got to do schematically, that helps us knowing how we eventually got to some things that were successful for us handling that type of pass rusher.”
Jones missed Georgia’s game against Kentucky last week due to a sprained ankle suffered against South Carolina on Oct. 6.
He returned to practice on Monday.
Pease no stranger to rivalries: Pease isn’t a fan of the Bobcats.
He started at quarterback for Montana from 1985-1986 and then served eight years on the Grizzlies’ offensive coaching staff from 1991-1998.
Every year except one, Pease came out victorious in the Brawl of the Wild.
The annual matchup between Montana and Montana State is referred to as the Griz-Cat Rivalry by Montana fans.
“We don’t call them Montana State,” Pease said. “We call them the other team. Don’t ever say Montana State.”
Come Saturday, Pease will coach his first Florida-Georgia game.
The two SEC rivals won’t exchange pleasantries in Jacksonville.
“Is it nasty? I mean, I wouldn’t say it’s nasty,” UF defensive end Dominique Easley said about the rivalry. “I mean, I don’t like them. They Georgia, that’s all. They Bulldogs, that’s all.”
Pease noticed a change in the Gators during the first couple days of practice this week. Preparation hasn’t been an issue through the first seven games this season, and the players told Pease they don’t need any extra motivation to get ready for the Bulldogs.
“It’s magnitude of the game — I’m learning that,” Pease said. “I’ve never been a part of the Florida-Georgia game before, but I’m understanding what it’s about.”
Contact Adam Pincus at apincus@alligator.org.
Left tackle Xavier Nixon (73) blocks South Carolina linebacker Shaq Wilson (54) during Florida’s 44-11 win against the Gamecocks on Saturday in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
