I rise today to defend one named Jeff Driskel, starting quarterback for the Florida Gator football team. A much-maligned starting quarterback, he is. Driskel was an elite quarterback coming out of high school and may very well have had elite success in college but . . . the coaching staff he fell in love with (Urban Meyer and company) left before he could do his thing. Jeff stayed, things got crazy, and Florida's performance fell off. But, Jeff did have some success and was our quarterback that led the team during the 2012 campaign when we came awfully close to making it to the national championship game.
Few people remember that, however, and fewer still give him credit for his play that season. It wasn't a stellar offensive production season, to be sure, but Jeff doesn't get enough credit for that 2012 game against FSU. Remember that game?
I'm constantly amazed how easy it is for Gator fans to disparage Jeff. Not critique him, mind you -- he's clearly earned the critique -- but he was 15 of 23 for 147 in that game with 1 TD and 0 interceptions (think, for just a minute, about our WRs versus their secondary, okay?). And that TD was a fourth quarter TD against a very good defense at their place, a score that essentially put the game away and made it 30-20.
I'm sorry, but that's a damn good performance. Not an okay performance, or a yeah it'll pass in a rush performance -- a damn good performance. The coordinator of that FSU defense earned a head coaching job and they put a bunch of players into the NFL draft that year. And never forget, they only get off that bogus horse with that bogus Injun and plant that bogus spear into that Panhandle dirt for one team -- just one; the Mighty Gators, baby.
Give Jeff some credit here. That was a great win, and he performed well under tremendous pressure in a very big game.
For whatever reason, the sum of our parts on offense didn't ever quite click with the prior offensive coordinator. Part of that certainly appeared to be Jeff's fault. But his evident talent is phenomenal, and if he clicks in this Kurt Roper offense better than the last one I'm going to be one very happy Gator and there are going to be a bunch of sad Noles around this town come the end of November once again.
Jeff Driskel. Nole Killa. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
As for our incoming QBs -- Treon Harris may be the next coming of Russell Wilson. He's underestimated, bigtime. Check out the video of the 55-0 beatdown he helped deliver against one of metro Atlanta's premier programs, Norcross High School (by the way, that team won the state championship of Georgia's biggest classification this past season for the second year in a row):
He's underestimated.
Big.
Time.
I know this: Will Grier better be ready. That Harris kid will not be moved to wide receiver, and the Nole trolls that like to float on Gator message boards know it.
Speaking of Noles, I don't believe FSU or Miami has ever won a national championship with a QB from the State of Florida (could be on wrong on that, but I don't think so) and the smack-delivering pleasure it would give me to have a kid from Booker T. Washington High School in Miami F.L.A. lead us to a championship is off-the-charts. We've had a kid from Big Duval lead us to a title, maybe it's time for a kid from Big Dade to deliver.
Go Gators !!!
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