Gators QB Brantley Passes First Test of Season
Sunday, September 4, 2011 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – From Chris Rainey's position in the Florida backfield, Gators quarterback John Brantley looked like the player who won the 2006 Gatorade National Player of the Year award.
From Will Muschamp's spot on the sideline, Brantley looked the way he had all through spring practice and fall camp.
Confident. Composed. Efficient. A leader in charge.
“John's been that way,'' Muschamp said. “I've been saying it all along. I've been pleased with John since Day 1. I've always felt like he's a guy we can win with and I know that locker room feels the same way I do.''
Brantley opened the lid on his senior season Saturday night by leading the Gators to a 41-3 win over Florida Atlantic. He looked different and played different.
The last time we saw Brantley in a meaningful game was in the Outback Bowl. He finished 6-for-13 with an interception and many wondered if we would ever see Brantley again in a Gators uniform with Muschamp set to take over the program.
But when the Gators reconvened on campus and Muschamp and his staff began evaluating players, Brantley made a good first impression. Once spring practice started, he quickly made a better impression considering the lack of experience at the position and Brantley's rapid grasp of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis' pro-style offense.
Still, it had been eight months of analysis without any results.
Brantley's teammates said he was more confident. So did the coaches. Weis said he was confident Brantley was a good fit in his offense. Even Brantley, near at a loss for words at the end of last season, appeared rejuvenated by the newness of his surroundings.
He finally got a chance to show off that rejuvenation Saturday, leading the Gators to four consecutive scoring drives to open the game. He finished 21 of 30 for 229 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.
One of the interceptions was tipped. The other one came in the end zone with the Gators deep in FAU territory. Instead of losing confidence and control of the huddle, Gators offensive lineman Xavier Nixon watched Brantley brush it off and come back to lead the Gators on another scoring drive later in the game.
Brantley walked the talk on Saturday.
“This is exactly what we expected from John and what we expect from him in the future,'' Nixon said.
Most of Brantley's passes were underneath the coverage, his longest completion going for 19 yards to Rainey. However, Brantley made a nice third-down throw to Quinton Dunbar to set up a field goal on the Gators' first drive.
He later squeezed a pass to tight end Jordan Reed – doing so while running to his left -- that led to another score. Brantley made the throws he needed to, threw away the ones he should have, and looked more like the player the Gators and their rabid fans want him to be.
“Just very pleased with how he directed the offense,'' Muschamp said. “[He] got us in the right runs, got us in the right protections, took the ball to the right spots. Certainly we've got some things to clean up, but for a first ball game, first offense, new scheme, all the newness to everything we're doing, [I was] very pleased with the performance.”
Brantley felt the same way as Muschamp. He was pleased with his play and the team's performance, but he avoided any hyperbole of what Saturday meant. It was just one game, not a season.
But it was definitely a solid fresh start.
“My confidence is pretty high right now. The team played well; the offensive line blocked amazing. The running backs ran very hard and those receivers got open,'' Brantley said. “So right now confidence is high – not just with me but this team. The team played great and also that offensive line did amazing, too.”
Brantley showed off his renewed confidence in the postgame press conference when he joked about being glad to see Rainey finally use a spin move that Brantley taught him. It was a glimpse of Brantley we didn't see much last year.
“I just think he feels more comfortable in what we're doing,'' Muschamp said.
With the Gators leading 24-0 in the second quarter, Muschamp brought backup quarterback Jeff Driskel into the game. Instantly, fans started talking about their first opportunity to get a look at Driskel, a true freshman from Oviedo ranked by some recruiting services as the top quarterback in the nation a year ago.
Driskel threw an interception on his first college pass. Brantley was one of the first to tell him to shake it off when Driskel came to the sideline.
“That's always tough for your first pass for that to happen, but he's a great quarterback and he knows to forget about it and move on,'' Brantley said. “Once he got a first couple of plays underneath his belt, I saw his confidence growing.''
Muschamp's goal was to get Driskel into the game since Brantley was the only quarterback on the roster with any game experience before Saturday. That worked out well despite Driskel's first pass.
“I wanted to give Jeff an opportunity to get some snaps when the game was in the balance,'' Muschamp said. “He needed those snaps. He has earned the right to be the back-up quarterback at Florida. John is our starter; there is no issue. We needed Jeff to get those reps in my opinion.
“I just look at big picture – it's a long season and I just didn't want to throw him out there in Week 2 and he had not taken any snaps.''
The big picture on Saturday focused on Brantley. If he can perform that way consistently, Florida's offense looks to be in much steadier hands than a year ago.
“It feels to introduce Coach Muschamp to the Gator Nation [with a victory],'' Brantley said. “That was a good feeling. We felt real comfortable. We had great preparation throughout camp. We were just happy to be able to go out and execution.''
