This is difficult to believe, but supposedly the Gators have not settled on a starting quarterback from among freshmen Jeff Driskel, Tyler Murphy and Jacoby Brissett. Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis said the three have been splitting reps in practice as the team prepares to visit No. 1 LSU (3:30 p.m., CBS).
Coach Will Muschamp said Monday that all three would get a chance to win the job now that starter John Brantley is out with an injury, but said Driskel was the projected starter. Weis confirmed that Driskel is in the lead, but the team remains open to playing Murphy or Brissett instead.
“I could tell you but I’d have to shoot you,” Weis said. “We don’t know yet. We’re practicing, as the head coach has already previously told you, Brantley’s out and we’re practicing the other three guys and by the end of the week, we’ll decide who the starter is.
“Jeff has obviously got the upper hand cause he’s played and the other guys really haven’t played meaningful football yet. But the other two guys are getting reps too, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Here are some other thoughts from Weis:
– Weis believes Brantley will return this season. Brantley was knocked out of the Alabama game on Saturday with a right leg injury. Florida has not provided specifics, but multiples sources said it was a high ankle sprain.
– He declined to update Driskel’s health. Muschamp said Monday that Driskel appeared to sustain a sprained ankle against Alabama, but he “is fine.”
– Florida is unlikely to play all three quarterbacks. The Gators will probably choose one guy and go with him, and have a second option ready as a back-up if needed.
– The game plan will be different this week in the sense that it will be scaled to fit Driskel or whoever else starts.
“At least with knowing that John’s out for this week, you could devise a game plan around less experienced guys,” Weis said. “Obviously you saw the game last week. We were putting a lot on (Driskel’s) shoulders.”
However, Weis will be cautious about adding quarterback run plays for Driskel.
“You could live a little dangerously if you think that they’re just going to let you run to the edge with the quarterback,” he said. “I think that’s what we’ve got Demps and Rainey for. Let those guys get to the edge.”
– There was a tentative plan to red-shirt Brissett this year, but that is not a consideration while Brantley is out.
“Once Jeff played, you don’t want to put Jacoby in just to hand off,” Weis said. “But if Jacoby gives us a chance to win this week, Jacoby will gladly play.”
– Brissett was hurt significantly by the fact that he did not arrive in Gainesville until summer. Driskel, by contrast, enrolled in January and went through spring practices.
“Probably the only reason why Jacoby hasn’t been a factor at this point is only because he came here in the summer time,” Weis said. “He had to play catch-up over the other guys. The other guys were here in the spring when we put everything in. I think that’s the only thing that kept Jacoby from being possibly the second guy in.
“I don’t know how it would have played out if he were here in the spring time with those other guys, but he wasn’t. He was in high school.”
– The run game will be even more vital this week with an inexperienced quarterback playing.
– John Brantley was playing like a “real quarterback” against Alabama before he left with an injury.
“He throws 16 passes, he completes 11 and he has three dropped balls — You think about it, 14-for-16 against that defense,” Weis said. “He’s stepping up in the pocket. That’s what real quarterbacks look like — stepping up in the pocket, shuffling a little to the left, shuffling a little to the right, making the big throw down the field that everyone said he couldn’t make.”
– He is very pleased with the way WR Andre Debose has practiced lately.
“The arrow’s been pointing up on Andre for about a month,” Weis said. “Didn’t have a great training camp and then — he’s got tons of ability, tons of ability, an ability to be a front-line, top-line wide receiver, but he’s got to show you evidence of that. You just don’t go by reputation. They have to show you evidence.”
