Del Rio Showing Signs He Could Solve Gators' QB Woes
Saturday, September 10, 2016 | Football, Scott Carter
The redshirt sophomore threw for 320 yards and four touchdowns in Saturday's win over Kentucky.
But have they finally found a quarterback who can help ease the loss of Tim Tebow seven years ago?
Yes, it really has been that long since Tebow led the Gators to a perfect regular season his senior year before a loss to Alabama in the SEC Championship Game shifted power in the conference.
Four years, three schools and two starts into his college career, Luke Del Rio is off to a nice start. If Del Rio keeps up this pace, he'll throw for nearly 3,500 yards, 36 touchdowns and only six interceptions in the regular season.
And Florida fans will go nuts.
"I'm not ready to put him in the Gator Hall of Fame or the National Football League Hall of Fame, but I think he is really learning how to play the position and knows what to expect and is starting to feel real comfortable with his pieces around him,'' Gators coach Jim McElwain said after Florida's 45-7 stomping of Kentucky. "He's starting to spread it around and throwing to the guys that are open."
Hey, even Brett Favre had to crawl before he could scramble.
In all seriousness, the 22-year-old Del Rio has the look of a potential problem solver. Del Rio threw for 320 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in Saturday's win before a mostly orange-clad crowd at the Swamp. The Gators rolled up 564 yards of total offense, their most in an SEC game since a 571-yard performance against Vanderbilt in the Head Ball Coach's final season 15 years ago.
As for Del Rio, he became the first UF quarterback since Tebow in 2007 to throw for 250-plus yards and complete at least 55 percent of his passes in back-to-back games.
John Brantley never did it. Neither did Jacoby Brissett or Jeff Driskel. Tyler Murphy or Skyler Mornhinweg? Nope. What about Treon Harris or Will Grier? You guessed it.
In two games Del Rio has passed for 576 yards and six touchdowns, completed 63.2 percent of his passes and thrown only one interception.
Of course, that pick on a curl route to C.J. Worton on Saturday was what seemed to irk McElwain the most about a dominant performance on offense and defense against the Wildcats.
"That interception is still haunting me because it was exactly the way we drew it up against the right defense,'' McElwain said.
Worton's route was off as was Del Rio's throw. The pass was behind Worton, who got his hands on the ball but couldn't hold on as Kentucky's Derrick Baity caught the deflection.
Del Rio accepted the blame.
"I threw it a little late,'' he said. "It's a bad pick on me. I need to be on time or check it down."
Perhaps it's nitpicking to focus too much on the interception since Del Rio made one of the best throws by a Florida quarterback in recent years. The pass came on a deep ball to Antonio Callaway that resulted in a 78-yard touchdown pass to put Florida up 14-0 near the end of the first quarter.
The Gators tried the same play on their first snap of the season a week ago against UMass and missed. Del Rio overthrew Callaway. On Saturday, he threw a beautiful deep ball that Callaway caught in stride and race to the end zone untouched.
"It felt the exact same as last week's throw,'' Del Rio said. "So I threw it and, 'ah, I threw it too far again.' That guy is blazing fast and he caught up to it. It's always nice those one-play drives for touchdowns."
If there is a knock on the 6-foot-1, 215-pound Del Rio, it's that his arm isn't nearly as strong as Pineiro's leg. Then again, prior to last week he had thrown just 18 passes in his college careeer.
The sample size was about as big as Rhode Island.
"He surprised me,'' tight end DeAndre Goolsby said. "That was definitely a bomb. He does have a strong arm. I definitely feel like he was more comfortable back there. I feel like with him, just continue to grow as a player and we are going to be unstoppable."
Both Del Rio and McElwain said there were six throws in the opener against UMass that they would like to have back. Del Rio wasn't perfect Saturday, but he continued to show poise, a nice touch, and natural leadership skills that endeared him to teammates soon after he transferred to Florida from Oregon State in the summer of 2015.
Del Rio also benefited from a rejuvenated offensive line that helped the Gators rush for 244 yards. Del Rio said he went untouched by Kentucky defenders after UF's first drive, the first time he recalled that happening since he played "some bad team" in high school.
"It's really easy to play quarterback when you are back there and there's no pass rush,'' Del Rio said. "I was very comfortable today."
The game plan was to establish the run and pass off that. Kentucky had no chance as the Gators did exactly as they wanted. Del Rio's first pass of the game, a 28-yard completion to Goolsby, was longer than any play the Gators pulled off against UMass.
Center Cam Dillard said Del Rio's veteran approach helps the entire offense.
"Luke's a great guy preparing,'' Dillard said. "He is very thorough and makes sure he identifies everything he needs to do. He just continued what he was doing last week."
Del Rio's preparation skills will continue to be tested as the season gets more difficult.
McElwain, a longtime offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, will be his toughest critic. While everyone else seemed to want to talk about those four touchdown passes Saturday, McElwain couldn't shake the lone interception.
That's OK with Del Rio.
"I love it. If I wanted somebody to pat me on the back, I'd go ask a fan or look at Twitter,'' he said. "I want to be coached hard. I want to be expected to make every play because I know I can make every play."
Two games into his Gators career, Del Rio talks like a winner. He's played like one, too.
