HOOVER, Ala. — Without consistency at the quarterback position, the Florida Gators suffered a dismal fate in 2013.
Brent Pease’s offense finished 109th in the country in passing yards per game, 113th in scoring offense and 115th in total offense. With no Jeff Driskel to lean on down the stretch of the season, Pease was fired and former Duke offensive coordinator Kurt Roper stepped in to fill the vacancy.
Coach Will Muschamp said he believes the pairing of Roper and Driskel was the best thing to happen to this offense since he took over at Florida in 2011. With practice beginning Aug. 4 and the season kicking off nearly four weeks later, all that’s left to do is wait and see if Muschamp’s confidence in Driskel and company is valid.
“There’s no question when you look at our season last year, I knew when Jeff went down it was going to be tough sledding,” Muschamp said. “But I think what we’re doing now offensively fits him better. There’s no question that was part of the reason I hired Kurt.”
The Gators’ new spread offense that Roper brings to Gainesville will help the redshirt junior quarterback not only find more open targets down the field, but also run the ball more freely across the field, said Driskel.
“I think there’s more of a chance to have plays with my legs,” Driskel said. “I’ve shown in the past that if I do get open space that I can run by DB’s. That’s going to be a big thing for us I think. When you get the defensive starting to key in on our running backs, then I think I’ll be able to spring some big plays. I think that’s going to be the biggest advantage we have moving forward.”
Driskel, who is coming off a broken right fibula suffered during UF’s 31-17 win against Tennessee on Sept. 21, said he is 100 percent after months of rehab with the training staff.
Because Tyler Murphy transferred to Boston College following the end of the 2013 season, Muschamp said that the Gators’ backup quarterback has yet to be determined. However, Muschamp and Roper are hoping Driskel can finally string together his first full 12-game season so that they won’t have to rely on an inexperienced player under center.
In order to fulfill Roper’s ideal offense with Driskel at the helm, Muschamp said the 6-foot-4, 230-pound quarterback will have to dial back his innate competitive nature at times and be able to sacrifice a few extra yards on the ground for his health.
“Well, I think the great thing about Jeff, he’s a great competitor,” Muschamp said. “That’s also the bad thing about Jeff. At the end of the day you got to be smart, get yourself down in some situations. We got to do a good job of coaching him in situations, putting him in situations when we need to use his legs, when we don’t, and be smart about getting down.”
If Driskel can stay on the field, sophomore Vernon Hargreaves III said Roper’s offense would flourish with how fast it is compared to previous seasons under Pease and Charlie Weiss.
“It’s fast,” Hargreaves said. “It’s really fast. They get on the ball. They run a lot of plays. It’s not really hard to adjust to it as a defense, it’s more you’ve got to be mentally ready because they’re going fast and they’re going to run as many plays as they can.”
Dante Fowler, Jr. said that he could also see the offense’s progression into a more hurry-up type system from the spring practices earlier in the year. Fowler said Driskel was recruited to play Roper’s type of run-and-gun style, so the redshirt junior should finally be able to flourish and score points.
And despite having to play under his third offensive coordinator in four years at Florida, Driskel said the learning curve is nothing like it was when he came into the program as a freshman.
Instead, the Oviedo, Fla., native said learning Roper’s offense was more about educating himself on the terminology rather than having to implement a totally new playbook.
“It’s actually not as tough as you would think,” Driskel said. “When you come in as a freshman, the first offense you learn is going to be the hardest one because you don’t know the game like you think you do. At the end of the day, a football play is a football play. It’s just a matter of verbage. So it’s just learning the new verbage. We still have similar plays as we’ve always had.”
With Johnny Manziel, Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron and Zach Mettenberger moving on to the NFL, Driskel becomes one of the most veteran quarterbacks in the SEC. Hargreaves said Driskel is not just one of the more experienced quarterbacks, but also the best in the land.
“I think Jeff is the best quarterback in college football,” Hargreaves said. “Just from practicing against him everyday, from seeing him play two years ago, from seeing him play last year the first three games, I just feel like he’s the best.”
After hearing what his teammate had to say about him, Driskel said he felt honored, but he isn’t quite ready to anoint himself the title of best QB.
“I couldn’t tell you that right now,” Driskel said. “I’ll get back to you at the end of the season.”
Jeff Driskel attempts a pass during the Orange & Blue Debut on April 12 in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
