The Florida Gators can’t seem to gain any positive momentum. It seems to be one step forward, two steps back so far this season. It has only been two days since their hard-fought, emotional, come from behind victory at Tennessee. A victory that saw head coach Will Muschamp finally make a change at the quarterback position benching Jeff Driskel in favor of freshman Treon Harris.
Harris sparked a lethargic offense and led the Gators on a quick touchdown drive, ten straight points overall, and their tenth victory in a row over the Volunteers. It was the biggest moment of his early college career, but less than 48 hours later the spotlight has intensified as he finds himself in the center of some very serious allegations.
The University of Florida announced Monday that Harris has been suspended indefinitely from all team related activities while they investigate a sexual abuse allegation from a fellow student. According to police reports, the alleged incident took place just hours after the Gator victory early Sunday morning on campus in the dorms.
The school and team took swift and decisive action in the matter, which will force the football team to once again hand over the reins of the offense to quarterback Jeff Driskel. The much maligned junior is 15-4 as a starter at the school, but has been under heavy scrutiny for not being able to lead this offense to consistent production. It was unclear whether a change would be made, but with Harris suspended it’s been decided for them, at least for the time being.
Maybe the benching in Tennessee will have a positive effect and Driskel will show a renewed passion and sense of urgency as the starter once again. It always seems as I watch him play that he lacks the passion and desire to be a vocal offensive leader. He doesn’t seem to get fired up to the level you would expect from a Florida starting quarterback. I never see him getting on his teammates to step up their level of play, and he always seems to have a glazed over deer-in-headlights look on his face.
These were things you could accept and try to look past when he was a freshman who was thrust into the job because of injury or as a sophomore when the Gators defense was willing this team to an 11-2 record. However, as a junior now, you expect to see progression and an advancement in this offense. When you see his former backup Jacoby Brissett thriving with North Carolina State, it makes it harder to accept Driskel’s regression. The benching could shake his confidence even more, resulting in hesitation on the field, and mistakes we have seen all too often already.
The offense has struggled so much it seems that Kurt Roper is even holding back on his offense a bit already. It could be a direct order from Muschamp, but it could also be a direct reflection of their confidence in the progress of Driskel. Either way, he should know that he has one final opportunity to prove he really is the man for the job.
The suspension of Harris could also mean good things for a fellow freshman quarterback. Reports are indicating that Will Grier was cleared for practice Sunday morning after suffering back spasms the past few weeks. Grier arrived on campus early in the spring and with all of that extra time should have a pretty good understanding of Kurt Roper’s offense.
He arrived with tons of hype and expectations for the future. Gator fans were hoping he could even beat out Driskel for the job THIS season and start the dawning of a new era at the position. However, he was beaten out in fall camp by Harris and was relegated to third on the depth chart.
Reportedly coaches felt that Harris came in and won the job. He showed good command and confidence of the offense and we saw that a bit in his limited action thus far. They also felt that they could run the same offense with both Driskel and Harris due to his tremendous athleticism. They will likely need to adjust the offense a bit with Grier, but he has more arm strength and better accuracy than either Driskel or Harris.
The players already showed their lack of confidence in Driskel when they rallied behind Harris and showed such a positive response to the change. They were all going up to Harris, giving him a pep talk, and hoping he would succeed. I believe going back to Driskel is just going to put an unnecessary cloud over this offense and create more turmoil on the other side of the ball.
The defense is undoubtedly frustrated when they are busting their tails and getting no support from the offense. Quick three and outs put them back on the field way too quick. They hold teams to field goals and can’t get any points in response. Their morale slowly fades over the course of a game and unless they create a turnover to put their offense in great position, they feel like they have no chance at all.
Going back to Driskel this week may be the only answer. Grier is just getting back to practice and may not be ready to take control of the offense. However, unless Driskel earns the job back, this isn’t a long term answer.
Grier could have seen his future with the Gators slipping away just days ago if Harris was successful again this Saturday against LSU. He had already made a great impression against both Eastern Michigan and Tennessee. He was on his way to cementing himself as the starter, a position he could realistically grab a hold of for the next three years. However, now he finds himself in a position where he could see the field a whole lot sooner than anyone anticipated and actually earn the job on the field himself.
I feel like Grier is going to come out this week and work as hard as he can to earn the job and get better at the position. It’s only going to be a matter of time before Will Muschamp and Kurt Roper have the confidence to go to him. Hopefully their decision in the fall was more a factor of Harris playing exceptional and not Grier struggling to pick up the offense. Either way, he has had some time to watch from the sidelines and learn the playbook. It will be all about how he comes out and practices now.
Both men find themselves with a golden opportunity. The defense is as talented as any in the country and if they can get any kind of spark from their offense the team could still contend in the SEC East. All of the goals they had are still right in front of them. Losing Harris is a setback for the team, but a huge opportunity for both Driskel and Grier.
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