Florida’s quarterback situation is still unsettled heading into the final stretch, and Kentucky is preparing for either option without having to overhaul its plan.
With three games left in the regular season, Jon Sumrall is still sorting through a competition that has already swung back and forth. Aaron Philo, the former Georgia Tech reserve who followed offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to Gainesville, opened the year as the starter over Tramell Jones.
Through the first six games, Philo averaged 223.5 yards per game, completed about 70% of his passes and threw only three interceptions. Solid production, but nothing that fully locked the job down.
Then came the South Carolina game, where Philo left with a shoulder injury at the end of a blowout loss. Jones, who remained at Florida through the coaching change, got his first career start at Texas and delivered a win over the top-ranked Horns.
He completed 22 of 35 passes, accounted for just under 200 total yards of offense, threw two touchdowns and had no turnovers. Even so, Florida turned back to Philo for the Georgia game.
After Philo threw a couple of picks and was benched, Jones took over as the starter and has held the role since.
On Monday, Sumrall said the decision still isn’t settled.
“Both practiced today,” Sumrall said on Monday. “There’ll be one guy that starts and one guy that doesn’t.
They’re both still listed as or on the depth chart. We’ll find out later in the week, probably… both guys are practicing.
Both guys have done some really good things this year at times, and both guys have done some not so good things at times. Didn’t think we played well enough at quarterback on Saturday.”
That Saturday was Florida’s loss to Oklahoma, when Jones completed only ten passes and threw two interceptions.
“He’ll learn from it and grow,” said the Florida head coach. “It was his second start, and really his second full week of being the starter in that role, and getting the whole week as the one.
But they’ll go through the week, and they’ll both get some one reps. They’ll both get some twos reps.”
From Kentucky’s side, the quarterback uncertainty doesn’t appear to change much. Will Stein said Tuesday that Florida’s offense looks similar no matter who is behind center.
“I think when you look at what they do offensively, it it kind of correlates between the two. They both play similar styles,” Stein said on Tuesday.
“Obviously, the kid that’s been playing recently, he got a big win at Texas, which I think boosted a lot of confidence for them as a team. And then they play the initial starter against Georgia.
He turns the ball over twice, which were bad turnovers, I would say. Then they go back to the other quarterback.
So I don’t think it changes a ton of their identity on offense. Both are good players.
Have shown flashes.”
For Kentucky, the key remains the same either way: slow down Jadan Baugh. He opened the season with at least 135 rushing yards in each of Florida’s first four games, but he hasn’t reached 100 since. If Kentucky can keep Baugh in check, Florida has a much tougher time finding points.
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