While three former Florida Heisman-winning quarterbacks had their statues unveiled Saturday during halftime of the annual Orange and Blue Debut, all 53,000 sets of eyes in attendance were on the current state of the position under new offensive coordinator Charlie Weis.
Based on the early returns, it’s a good thing the season opener is still five months away.
John Brantley, the incumbent at the position who drew the ire of fans for his uneven -- to be kind -- play in 2010 and had strongly considered a transfer after Urban Meyer retired, struggled in the only half he played this afternoon, completing just four of his 14 attempts for a meager 45 yards. In fairness, the other quarterbacks didn’t fare a whole heckuva lot better during the 10-6 Blue squad win, with Tyler Murphy going 7-for-11 for 68 yards and a touchdown and touted early enrollee Jeff Driskel just 2-of-6 for 13 yards in what was admittedly a very vanilla version of Weis’ offense. For those toking and hoping for a change in the QB pecking order based on what transpired today, though, you’ll be sorely disappointed.
“If started the season today, John Brantley would be our starter,” Muschamp said, adding that today wasn’t indicative of a spring that saw Brantley complete 70 percent of his passes. And adding that the competition is far from over as it will resume once summer camp commences.
Even as that performance in the spring finale likely won’t do much to bolster the confidence of Gator Nation in the presumptive starter, Muschamp seemed relatively pleased with the totality of the spring sessions. Given the injuries his squad’s dealt with -- 20-some Gators did not participate in the game due to dings of varying degrees -- and the implementation of new schemes on both sides of the ball, he may very well have a point.
“I think the first thing you look at is the installation of schemes and identify playmakers, which that is what coaches do,” Muschamp said. “That’s our philosophy of the coaching staff – let’s evaluate our players and see what they can do, put them in situations where they can be most successful. I think we’ve done that.
“We’ve identified on both sides of the ball the guys we can rely on as far as offense and defense and special teams. So you work on that scheme-wise and then you start building things you think can work in that situation. I feel like we’ve identified our playmakers and then we ranked the top 22 on both sides of the ball. We need that list to grow, as far as guys we can count on and rely on in the fall. That’s where we are right now.”
Certainly, though, where they are right now is not where they need to be come the first of September and beyond. Thankfully for those with a vested interest in the success of the program, there’s plenty of time to tweak and/or overhaul any and all things necessary.