Will Grier had a chance to solidify himself as Florida's starting quarterback for the rest of the season against Kentucky.
He drew his second consecutive start against the Wildcats and instead of seizing the opportunity it slipped through his hands.
Florida head coach Jim McElwain said he has not decided on a permanent starter heading into a showdown with Tennessee on Saturday. This comes after a 14-9 road win against Kentucky where Grier took all 59 snaps.
McElwain said on Monday that people shouldn’t look too much into Grier going wire-to-wire as the quarterback and that the staff will continue to evaluate the position on a week-by-week basis with Treon Harris still in the fold.
"Obviously Will went the whole game and don’t read anything into that as far as how this goes this week," McElwain said.
"We’ll decide as we move forward and that’s something we’ll talk about as we go."
Grier had varying performances in each of the two halves against the Wildcats.
The Davidson, North Carolina, native, got off to a good start in the first half as he led the Gators to two touchdown drives. Grier was 8-of-12 passing for 94 yards and added 36 yards rushing, including a 1-yard touchdown run on Florida’s second drive of the game.
During Florida’s second touchdown drive of the game, Grier was 4-for-4 passing for 44 yards and also added seven rushing yards.
The 10-play, 57-yard drive was capped off by Kelvin Taylor, who found the end zone from three yards out, and UF went into the locker room with a 14-3 lead and all the momentum.
However, the second half was a much different story for Grier and the offense.
The redshirt freshman went a subpar 5-of-10 for 31 yards and an interception, and he also coughed the ball up for the second time in three games.
Florida’s offense stalled and lacked continuity, allowing Kentucky to hang around.
McElwain said he thought about inserting Harris during the second half to have a change of pace.
"We’re gonna play the way we play it," McElwain said.
"We just felt like in the last game, (with) Treon, we had some opportunities where maybe we should have put him you know, that’s the way it goes. We kinda get a feel for it and that’s what we talked about and yet there’s some things we really gotta work on that position."
Harris, who got the bulk of the snaps in the fourth quarter during the Gators’ second game of the season against East Carolina on Sept. 12, waited idly by on the sidelines against UK for a chance to get into the game.
It never came.
McElwain said before the game that it was important to ride the hot hand and have either of the quarterbacks develop a rhythm.
Wide receiver Brandon Powell said while it’s important for a quarterback to develop a rhythm, he’s comfortable with either Grier or Harris taking snaps.
Powell added that the offense has to become more consistent and correct the mistakes they made.
"Anything that we can fix, we’re going to fix it," Powell said. "We’ve just got to come this week, look at the film, put it behind us. You’ve just got to get better every day."
With Grier leaving the door open for Harris to get some ample playing time this week during practice, McElwain said Harris will have an opportunity to prove himself so he can receive some playing time against the Volunteers.
He’ll just have to take advantage and be ready if he’s called upon.
"He’s a true team guy, McElwain said. "Obviously disappointed and yet, you know what, he’ll prepare, he’ll be ready and we’ll see what happens this week."
Follow Luis Torres on Twitter @LFTorresIII
UF quarterback Will Grier drops back to pass during Florida's 14-9 win against Kentucky on Sept. 19, 2015, at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky
