The Gators earned a 35-14 win over Florida Atlantic in their 2021 season opener on Saturday night, but it wasn’t a performance that inspired a lot of confidence in the quarterback situation. Offensively, Florida rode its run game to 400 yards, and neither Emory Jones nor Anthony Richardson was asked to do much in the air.
Jones found more success overall passing the ball, throwing for 113 yards and a touchdown pass to Rick Wells. But coach Dan Mullen gave the reins to Richardson for most of the second half, who seemed to spark the offense more. He was only 3 of 8 passing for 40 yards, but he had 160 yards rushing on seven carries, aided by a 73-yard touchdown dash.
After the game, Mullen made it clear that there is not a quarterback competition. In his sideline interview with the SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic, he affirmed that Jones is the starter. In his postgame press conference, he elaborated on what his plan was for the position heading into the game.
“I think the plan was to play both of them,” Mullen said. “Emory had that series in the first half and had a couple other series in the second half. I thought he did a good job. He missed a couple reads, but I thought it was good for him to get that experience as a starter for his first game out there. But both of them have the ability to make explosive plays and the nice thing is that I’m pretty confident with both the quarterbacks.
“Obviously, Emory is our starter as we get the experience, we roll the guys through. We did that tonight and it was good to see them both make some really explosive plays. Our concern with them is, we missed a couple of reads that we shouldn’t have missed. It’s stuff we need to get cleaned up. The difference between practice and a game is, in practice when the quarterback starts to scramble we blow the play dead; well, we saw tonight that those are big explosive hit plays. In games, you’re playing a different defense, you got to be able to adjust and take what the defense gives you.”
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However, Mullen’s reassurances about Jones’ status haven’t stopped the speculation train. Richardson reportedly had a very strong camp, and the Gainesville native now wears No. 15 for the Gators. It’s no mystery that fans are eager to see him take the field.
And they could see more of it if Jones continues to struggle. The team has one more tune-up game on the road against South Florida next Saturday before facing Alabama in the Swamp. If Jones is hindered in the passing game once more, Mullen may turn to Richardson for a spark yet again.
“He’s exciting with the ball in his hands, isn’t he,” Mullen said of Richardson, whose highlight reel included a Lamar Jackson-esque hurdle. “I think he’s going to be a great player. I think you saw that tonight, his athleticism, he’s a special guy with the ball in his hands. Anthony did some nice things, but you got to run the whole offense, and I think Anthony is really growing with situations. I think he will continue to grow with situations.”
For now, it’s clear that Mullen believes more of the playbook is available to Jones, which makes sense. The fourth-year player is very familiar with Mullen’s offense, much more so than a redshirt freshman in Richardson. But it’s clear the youngster is coming along fast, and no matter what happens at the quarterback spot, he should see a lot of playing time this year.
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