When thoughts turn to the wealth of quarterback talent in the Southeastern Conference this season, it is a little overwhelming.
Despite the loss of the big stats put up by departed starting quarterbacks Tyler Wilson at Arkansas and Tyler Bray at Tennessee, the returning 12 starting quarterbacks in the league still combined for 21,593 yards and 206 touchdowns. You primarily hear talk of Alabama’s AJ McCarron and Georgia’s Aaron Murray and even South Carolina’s Connor Shaw and LSU’s Zach Mettenberger when the talk turns to outstanding quarterbacks.
One name you seldom hear mentioned is Florida’s Jeff Driskel. Remember this is a quarterback who led his team to an 11-2 record as a sophomore. So why is he not mentioned as one of the top returning quarterbacks in the SEC? Maybe because Driskel was only 12th in the SEC in passing. He “only” threw for 1,646 yards and 12 touchdowns, modest numbers in comparison to the top quarterbacks in the league.
Or maybe the lack of respect for Driskel comes from the fact that the Gators, despite winning 11 games, ranked dead last in the SEC in passing.
But the lack of publicity doesn’t mean Driskel is not confident entering his junior season.
“I’m a lot more confident because I’ve played more and gotten a lot more snaps and played one year as the starting quarterback,” he said. “I’d say the guys respect me a lot more this year. I’ve opened my mouth a lot more and just being around the guys, it just comes with it. You don’t flip a switch; it grows.”
It’s a far cry from the Driskel of 2012, who had to survive a quarterback battle to win the starting job then lead the team to eight come-from-behind wins.
“It’s easier to be more vocal when you’re the set quarterback. When there’s a competition, you don’t want to step on anyone’s toes,” he said.
Driskel went head-to-head with Jacoby Brissett in the spring an early fall of 2012. Driskel won the job and Brissett eventually transferred. Now Driskel shoulders the responsibility of reviving a passing offense that suffered from a lack of an elite set of receivers. No Florida receiver finished among the top 15 pass catchers in the league. That is not expected to be a problem this season.
“I think it’s a good group top to bottom,” Driskel says of the 2013 group. “They’ve done a ton of work this offseason, and I’m looking forward to them playing. It’s another year of working out and growing up, and they’ve answered the challenge Coach (Joker) Phillips brought. They’re tired of hearing that they’re no good, and they’ve put in the work, and I’m excited to see that pay off.”
“It’s his football team, a guy I thought attacked the offseason the way you’re supposed to, as far as his mental preparation, watching film,” said Florida coach Will Muschamp. “Certainly understands what we’re doing offensively much better than a year ago, which is expected. A guy I’m really excited to see play. You see the leadership taking over on our team.”
Driskel admits he spent much of the offseason preparing for this year by putting in hours of work, throwing with the receivers and studying films of last season.
“The first thing you’ve got to do is a lot of self evaluation. I went back and watched a lot of game tape of my own from last year,” Driskel said. “I really focused on pass protection and knowing when to get the ball out, when you have to take a sack and when you have to throw the ball away. Myself and a lot of the linemen got together and watched a lot of film and kind of got on the same page.”
Driskel’s responsibility for the offense extends to more than just his passing. He has also been known to pull the ball down and take off running.
“I think that is a big part of our offense,” he said. “We had some big plays when I carried the ball. I think we still have to use that. I’ve got to be smart. Me running the ball is definitely a weapon for us, but I’m just going to have to be smart with it and get out of bounds if I can or slide if I have the first down and not take a big hit. I’ve definitely heard that from the coaching staff.”
Driskel rushed for 413 yards last season but he will leave the ground game up to others like running backs Tre Burton, a powerful player who can play multiple roles, and Matt Jones, a sophomore who turned heads in the spring.
“Mike Gillislee was great for us last year but we really do think we’re in great position at running back,” he said.
If Driskel continues his growth at quarterback, the Florida coaches will be happy to let others worry about picking up the tough yardage on the ground, which should only benefit the Gators offense over the course of the season.