Aaron Philo is putting Florida right back where it didn’t want to be: staring at its quarterback situation all over again.
Two straight blowouts have pulled everyone on the roster into the spotlight, and Philo has ended up under the brightest one. He has now been pulled in garbage time in back-to-back weeks, and while he is not the lone reason Florida is struggling, the latest stretch has made it harder to treat the quarterback question like it was settled.
The stat line from Saturday doesn’t look disastrous at first glance. Philo went 21 of 28 for 227 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
But the fuller picture tells a messier story. He also lost two fumbles, and the interception didn’t exactly help his case.
That is the part Florida can’t ignore now: opponents have been packing the box and daring Philo to beat them over the top, and he hasn’t done it.
Against South Carolina, Philo’s average depth of target on 28 passing attempts was 6.1 yards. LaNorris Sellers, by comparison, posted an ADOT of 12.7.
Among the 87 quarterbacks who have logged at least 150 dropbacks this season, Philo ranks 72nd in ADOT. That low number is partly shaped by Buster Faulkner’s offense, but it also raises the bigger question of whether the offense itself has been molded around Philo’s limitations as a downfield passer.
There’s another issue, too. In that same group of 87 quarterbacks, Philo is 58th in Percentage of Pressures Turned into Sacks. When pressure gets to him, it becomes a sack 20% of the time.
That brings Florida back to the debate it thought it had already answered.
Back in July, Jon Sumrall talked about Tramell Jones and said: "Tramell did some really good things, through, in the spring at times. His highs were like, 'Whoa.'
The problem, at times was the lows. You're like, 'Hey, we can't do that.
That'll lose the game.'"
Florida spent the offseason leaning toward Philo because of his familiarity with the offense, even if Jones seemed to offer the higher ceiling. Sumrall essentially said as much when he named Philo the starter.
And after Florida beat Ole Miss, the conversation briefly tilted in Philo’s favor. At that point, his biggest perceived weakness looked easier to defend.
Now that’s not nearly as easy a sell.
Jones has now come in during garbage time in back-to-back weeks, both times after defenses were already focused on celebrating the result instead of defending the game. That doesn’t settle the quarterback battle, but it does ensure it’s getting another look. And for Philo, the message is simple: if he wants to keep the job, he has to show he is more than a product of what’s around him.
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