A look at Florida's true freshman quarterbacks and how they have fared
Monday, October 3, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
Gators head coach Will Muschamp announced Monday that true freshman quarterback Jeff Driskel is the projected starter heading into Saturday's game at No. 1-ranked LSU in place of injured John Brantley.
Thanks to some in-depth research by Florida's sports information office, here are some interesting notes about freshman quarterbacks at UF:
--A freshman quarterback (true or redshirt) has started 58 games for the Gators. Florida is 39-18-1 in those games.
--Four true freshmen quarterbacks have started for the Gators: Wayne Peace (1980), Donald Douglas (1989), Jesse Palmer (1997) and Chris Leak (2003).
--Peace was 4-for-10 for 66 yards (0 TDs, 0 Int) in his first career start, a 15-3 win at Ole Miss on Oct. 18, 1980.
--Douglas was 1-for-5 for 6 yards (0 TDs, 0 Int) in his first career start, a 10-7 loss at Auburn on Nov. 4, 1989.
--Palmer was 8-for-14 for 92 yards (2 TDs, 0 Int) in his first career start, a 24-10 win at Auburn on Oct. 18, 1997.
--Leak was 20-for-35 for 268 yards (2 TDs, 2 Int) in his first career start, a 24-21 win at Kentucky on Sept. 27, 2003.
--True freshmen quarterbacks have a 13-9 record: Peace (5-3), Douglas (1-3), Palmer (1-0) and Leak (6-3)
--In his third career start, Leak led the Gators to a 19-7 win at No. 6 LSU in 2003. A guy named Will Muschamp was LSU's defensive coordinator that season. That was LSU's only loss on the way to a national championship.
--The most passing yards for a true freshman Gators quarterback is 282, set by Peace in the 1980 loss to Georgia made famous by Lindsay Scott's last-minute touchdown reception.
--Leak faced the stiffest competition as a true freshman starter, going against five ranked teams in 2003. Leak was 6-3 overall, 3-2 against ranked opponents, defeating No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Arkansas and No. 4 Georgia.
--Florida's 16-14 win over the Bulldogs in 2003 is the highest-ranked opponent a Gators true freshman quarterback has ever beaten.
--Florida has used 13 true freshman quarterbacks in a game: Brock Berlin, Trey Burton, Cris Collinsworth, Jeff Driskel, Donald Douglas, Doug Johnson, Chris Leak, Cam Newton, Jesse Palmer, Wayne Peace, Herbert Perry, Josh Portis and Tim Tebow.
--Leak played the most of any true freshman quarterback in school history, appearing in 13 games (nine starts) in 2003; Tebow played in nine games as a true freshman in 2006.
--With Driskel set to face No. 1 LSU on Saturday, he'll become only the third freshman Gators quarterback to play -- and first to start -- against a No. 1-ranked opponent (Tebow vs. Ohio State in 2007 BCS title game; Burton vs. Alabama in 2010).
