While the starting quarterback drama played out last year between Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett, third-string quarterback Tyler Murphy lined up with the scout team as punching bag for the Gators’ defense.
When Driskel missed a week of preseason camp in August, Murphy — the new back-up quarterback — dutifully served as stand-in for the Gators’ undisputed starter.
Nothing about Murphy’s place in the pecking order surprised anyone — coaches, players, even Murphy himself.
Until now.
Since he was forced into action three weeks ago after Driskel broke his leg, Murphy has performed with pocket awareness, precision and consistency rarely seen under center since he arrived in 2010.
“He really commands the offense,” redshirt junior guard Max Garcia said. “We just run really smoothly with him. He’s just so relaxed.
“It’s almost like nonchalant.”
Murphy’s cool and efficiency will be tested Saturday when the No. 17 Gators (4-1, 3-0 SEC) visit No. 10 LSU (5-1, 2-1).
The matchup features Florida’s SEC-leading defense against a Tigers’ attack averaging 45.5 points. But Murphy will have as much influence on the outcome as anyone.
The 21-year-old’s role reversal has been unlike anything UF offensive coordinator Brent Pease could recall.
As the one-month anniversary of Murphy’s first college pass approaches, it is obvious he had the right stuff all along. It was just not quite as easy to see.
At 6-foot-2, 204 pounds, Murphy did not tantalize with the physical tools of Driskel (6-4, 239) or Brissett (6-3, 229). Murphy, though, clearly had the necessary mental make-up.
“He works hard. He takes good notes. He’s very smart,” Pease said. “He takes his approach like he’s an eighth grader every day and wants more. And he asked good questions last year when he was behind Jeff and Jacoby, and still had good ideas.
“He was almost, at times, the guy, I knew he was going to, you know, keep me on my toes.”
When his chance arrived against Tennessee, Murphy was prepared for it.
Under coach Will Muschamp, the Gators’ champion the mantra, “man down, man up.” Yet, Murphy’s level of readiness was astonishing to his peers as he entered the huddle.
“I was surprised even though I know how we’re supposed to approach the game,” Garcia said. “We’re all supposed to be ready to go. But my freshman year at Maryland, I was a backup and I knew I didn’t prepare for the game like I knew I should have just because I knew that I probably wasn’t going to go in.
“But he did that. He took the game seriously. So I was surprised when he got in there and really just got it going.”
Murphy made plays with his arm and his feet against Tennessee. A week later at Kentucky, he completed his first 13 passes — the second most consecutive completions during one game in Florida history.
But the Gators also combined for 508 rushing yards in those wins. With the run game struggling against Arkansas, Murphy finished 16 of 22 passing for 240 yards and three touchdowns.
Murphy’s pass rating of 209.4 was the highest by a Florida quarterback since Tim Tebow’s record-setting final game in the 2010 Sugar Bowl.
Former NFL quarterback Brock Huard called the game Saturday night in the Swamp for ESPN. The Gatorade National Player of the Year in 1995, Huard had the pedigree in high school Murphy did not. Murphy was rated a two-star athlete on the five-star scale by most recruiting services coming out of high school.
Knowing Murphy’s backstory, Huard understood how he might have slipped through the cracks at Florida. Seeing Murphy in action, Huard realized how he made the most of his chance.
“You’ve had some really physically gifted guys there, who had every measurable you want,” Huard said. “But you can have all the arm strength, you can have all the physical size and speed. The game is still so much about the neck up and one’s ability to process information.
“He’s really gifted that way.”
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