Before I get into my thoughts about the disaster and train wreck that is the Florida QB situation, I want to address the fact I am extremely proud of President Machen and Athletic Director Jeremy Foley for their swift actions in how they have handled the alleged sexual assault by Florida freshman Treon Harris.
Now, then.
After Treon Harris led Florida on two scoring drives to beat Tennessee in Knoxville for the tenth straight year, Gator Nation was, to say the least, excited. Excited to win 10-9, excited to play LSU, and excited about the future of Florida football in general. But on Monday morning, the reports started to surface that Treon Harris was under investigation. Then the University of Florida made an official announcement that sank the hearts of Gator fans everywhere… that the excitement and the future was suspended indefinitely for allegedly sexually assaulting a female student in The Springs Complex on campus early Sunday morning.
Throughout the day Monday, all hope sunk, all excitement was gone. Florida football was back to where it had been in the first half of the game on Saturday. Incomplete passes and interceptions running through everyone’s mind. Over and over again.
So the real question that many Gator fans have…. What happens from here?
Well folks, I hate to give you the bad news. But as we learned yesterday, Jeff Driskel isn’t going anywhere. He will be your starting quarterback this week and every week going forward barring injury. With everyone now clamoring to see true freshman Will Grier pick up where Treon Harris left off… sorry, but that is not going to happen unless Driskel has an even worse performance against LSU than he had against Tennessee. The fact is that Will Grier is coming off of severe back spasms which have kept him out of practice for the last two weeks.
Then there’s Skyler Mornhinweg, who is coming off of treatment for a cut lip… that stemmed from him getting in a fight with Gerald Willis over a pair of his cleats. He and Grier will battle it out for the backup spot, but let’s be honest here… based on what we saw last year, who thinks he’ll beat him out for second string?
I am still hoping against hope that the light bulb goes off in Driskel’s head and we can see the guy we saw in 2012. But I will not hold my breath. Driskel has been given a second chance against LSU, a chance to redeem himself and save his career.
If there is one message I could give to Jeff Driskel, it is this:
You have an opportunity to not only salvage your quarterbacking career, but you have a chance to lift up an entire fan base. You were given another chance by un-mitigating circumstances. A second chance that many will never get. It is truly “now-or-never” for you Jeff. If you don’t get it this time, you never ever will.
