Well, here we are, Gator fans. 5-1 heading into our real bye week and in the driver’s seat of the SEC East. A little over three weeks ago, I wrote my first article for In All Kinds Of Weather, one that indicated frustration at Quincy Wilson for guaranteeing a win over Tennessee that he could not deliver. It was a moment he admitted “humbled” him, and he vowed to move forward.
Fast forward less than a month and here I am happily congratulating him for this past weekend. Not only did he match Tabor’s pick six but also allowed 0… Yes, 0 catches while being targeted plenty of times during the game (which is expected when playing on the other side of the field as Teez Tabor). The article that I wrote touched on perseverance and poise, and man, has he shown a surplus of both since. After coming up short against a Vols team that is now behind Florida in the SEC East, it seems that the young man has put his best foot forward as the Gators steamrolled a building from the ground up yet promising Missouri team.
While the Gator offense struggled throughout the 1st half, the secondary came up big once again in creating turnovers and putting points on the board when the offense just simply….didn’t. And couldn’t. How many times have we seen this? 13-0 with a little under 2 minutes to play in the first half, with seven of those points coming off a Tabor pick six, the Florida offense was just stuck in neutral for most of the game against this Missouri team that was starving for any kind of progression in the offense.
And then Quincy jumped in front of a pass from Missouri quarterback Drew Lock and returned it all the way for 78 yards to ignite the crowd.
Mr. Wilson deserves a tremendous amount of credit, as stated before. Playing CB on the opposite side of a proven superstar like Teez Tabor, you’re going to have to hold your own when teams are doing everything they can to avoid throwing the ball to the lockdown side. But Quincy is now making his own side a no-throw zone with 3 interceptions this season, 2nd in the SEC. Wanna guess who’s first? Good luck, opposing quarterbacks, because you’re left with an option that’s akin to choosing your own death.
Less than two weeks from now, Wilson will line up against a mediocre receiving core and a freshman quarterback that Gator Nation knows pretty well. I’m talking about Jacob Eason, of course, the guy who was caught cheating on his girlfriend with some random girl at a UF party on his recruiting visit. Eason ranks 7th in the SEC in passing, and hasn’t been terrible by any means but hasn’t taken over the offense the way he was expected to either. I expect another strong performance from Wilson, possibly rack up another INT to pad his draft prestige and keep the passing lanes restricted. I’m sure we’re all hoping to see a couple of passes go the opposite way that they were thrown. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this happens. I really do like his odds. A true freshman quarterback that has shown to make plenty of mistakes and has yet to command his offense against a defense like Florida’s? This could be just as bad as last year’s World’s Largest Outdoor Turnover Party if Eason isn’t careful.
Anyway: Mr. Quincy Wilson, you are a hell of a player, kudos to you my friend. There’s no longer any doubt that you’re a star in your own right, as your performance against Missouri dispelled any remaining questions people may have had about that. Well done last week, well done. See you in Jacksonville.