Muschamp says changes coming for Gators, but not at quarterback
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In a perfect orange and blue world, the Florida Gators would be readying for an opponent this week rather than staring at an open date.
But as all of the Gator Nation can see, these are far from perfect times.
"As a competitor, you want to go back the next day," UF coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday.
Rather than turn their attention toward the next game on the schedule, the Gators have an open date to process and try to fix the multitude of issues that reared themselves in Saturday's 42-21 loss at Alabama, a game where little went right for quarterback Jeff Driskel and his offense, and the UF defense was trampled for 645 yards.
In the 10 days before the Gators (2-1, 1-1) take the field again -- Oct. 4 at Southeastern Conference East Division rival Tennessee (2-1, 0-0) -- Muschamp and his staff will look to strike a balance between staying the course and making across-the-board changes.
But there will be changes.
The torch and pitchfork social media mob taking aim at Driskel will not get the quarterback switch it's screaming for. Driskel did not play well at Alabama, going just 9-for-28 for 93 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Muschamp, though, said he's sticking with his fourth-year junior -- rather than turning to true freshman Treon Harris -- with the understanding and acknowledgement Driskel has to play better.
"I think he'd be the first person to tell you that," Muschamp said, adding Driskel probably had four or five forced throws that should have been safety-valve check-downs, missed receivers on some deep balls for the second straight game, and also was hurt by some drops. "But Jeff needs to play better, he understands that. He certainly forced some things that we can't afford to do, and especially the two interceptions."
Harris is the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder from Miami, where he led Northwestern High to back-to-back state championships. He's thrown just two passes this season, for 77- and 71-yard touchdowns against Eastern Michigan backups in the 65-0 blowout to open the season. The offensive staff loved his decisiveness and accuracy in the preseason. His mobility also provided a nice option for third-down and red-zone packages.
And yet there have been no Harris sightings since the EMU game.
Not even late Saturday when the Tide had the game well in hand.
"He continues to improve and continues to do some nice things," said Muschamp, adding the plan for Harris, game to game is to get him ready for opportunities. "We'd like to have him get some snaps, depending on the situation in the game. But he had a good [practice] day Tuesday, I'm very pleased with some things he did. But Jeff gives us the best opportunity to win right now."
Don't rule out seeing Harris, though, if even on a cameo basis.
The commitment shown the starting quarterback does not necessarily extend to the other side of the ball.
A week after UF's young defensive backs blew a series of assignments and survived a triple-overtime scare against Kentucky, some of the same players (and others) looked confused all over again while Crimson Tide receivers ran uncovered at times through the secondary on the way 449 passing yards.
After sophomore cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III, no Florida defensive back has shown enough reliability to consistency to be guaranteed they'll be back on the field.
"Yeah, that's what I told them," Muschamp said.
There also could be some simplification of scheme on the back end, but if only things were that simple.
After review of the Alabama tape, Muschamp and his defensive staff counted missed tackles that numbered in the high-20s. He admitted the grading curve may have been strict, but even half that number is too many.
And yet, the utter totality of one of the most statistically lopsided losses in school history has not deterred the Gators from their belief this is a good and talented football team.
So what does the coach tell a frustrated fanbase?
"I'd say it's early," Muschamp said. "Everybody gets frustrated. They want to win them all and so do I. That's what we're working to do and I think we have a very good football team. We didn't always play that way or coach that way on Saturday and that falls on my shoulders to get it fixed. That's what we plan on doing. I feel as confident as I did before the Alabama game about this team and where we are."
