Almost every young quarterback implodes at some point, and Florida’s Jeff Driskel experienced that meltdown in last week’s loss to Georgia.
He was solid — even amazing at times — in his first seven games as the starter, but self-destructed with three fumbles and two interceptions as control of the SEC Eastern Division slipped from the Gators’ hands.
The challenge for Driskel now is whether he can bounce back when No. 8 Florida hosts Missouri today (12 p.m., ESPN2).
“Hopefully I got it out of my system,” he said. “Got the mistakes out of the way. Learn from them and try not to make the same mistakes again.”
Driskel and the Gators (7-1, 6-1 in the SEC) can still fight back into the East race. If they win today, they would capture the division if Georgia (7-1, 5-1) loses to Ole Miss this afternoon or to Auburn next week.
Missouri (4-4, 1-4) is sixth in the conference in fewest passing yards allowed and seventh against the run. Florida coach Will Muschamp’s biggest concern is defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson, who leads the Tigers in tackles (57), sacks (four) and quarterback hurries (seven).
Driskel’s first season as a starter has been turbulent but successful. He beat out fellow sophomore Jacoby Brissett, from Dwyer High School, for the job in August, put up modest numbers his first two weeks, then erupted in Florida’s blowout of then-No. 23 Tennessee. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns, plus 81 rushing yards.
A few weeks later he broke Tim Tebow’s school record for rushing yards by a quarterback with 177 against Vanderbilt.
The Gators have not asked him to do much throwing-wise, but he has been effective. In his first seven games, he completed 66.9 percent of his passes and threw for eight touchdowns against one interception. He lost a fumble once.
He fumbled twice on the opening possession last week. The first was on a zone-read run play in which he was indecisive about handing off to Mike Gillislee. Florida recovered that loose ball, but was less fortunate two plays later when Driskel lost a fumble while trying to throw as the pocket was collapsing.
“Things were caving in on him pretty fast,” offensive coordinator Brent Pease said. “You’ve got to have ball security and live with the situation at that time.”
Pease would rather take his chances with a long down-and-distance on the next play than risk a turnover.
Driskel also made some imprudent throws across his body, one of which fell harmlessly for an ugly incompletion, while the other was an interception in the end zone that cost Florida points just before halftime.
His plan is not to forget those mistakes — just the opposite, actually. The more he analyzes what went wrong, the better his chances of avoiding similar errors in the future.
“When you make mistakes you have to learn from them,” he said. “It was a big loss. We’re going to have to respond.”
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