MIAMI – Bryce Perkins was not in New York earlier this month with fellow quarterbacks Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow and Justin Fields as a Heisman Trophy finalist, but if you ask the Gators about Perkins, he has that type of talent.
"This guy is really special in the sense that one, if you watch from the continuity tape, I think he's gotten better every game,'' Florida defensive coordinator
Todd Grantham said Saturday. "He's obviously athletic and can make things happen. I mean, he's carried the ball 100 more times than their tailback. You've got to understand that."
Here's what's understood: Perkins has Florida's full attention.
When the No. 9 Gators (10-2) face No. 24 Virginia (9-4) on Monday night in the Capital One Orange Bowl, they must know where the Cavaliers senior quarterback is at all times. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, it's not as easy as you might think.
"You might be covering and out of nowhere he just tucks the ball and runs,'' UF cornerback
Marco Wilson said. "He's pretty dynamic."
A junior-college transfer from Arizona, Perkins added instant offense in Charlottesville as an All-ACC performer. As a junior, he set a school record with 3,603 yards of total offense (2,680 passing, 923 rushing). Through 13 games as a senior, Perkins has done it again with 3,960 yards (a single-season record 3,215 passing and 745 rushing) and counting.
Perkins and Hurts are the only players in the country this season with at least 3,000 yards passing and 700 yards rushing. In Virginia's win at North Carolina in November, Perkins accounted for 490 yards of total offense, which established a Virginia record.
Perkins has even drawn comparisons to former Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, who is the favorite to win the NFL's MVP award in his second season with the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson might be in a league of his own, but Gators defensive lineman
Jonathan Greenard knows a playmaker when he sees one.
He was in the same signing class at Louisville as Jackson and understands the challenge in facing a dual-threat quarterback as big and fast as Perkins.
"He's going to call his number,'' Greenard said. "He's their guy. He's a dynamic athlete who works."
To prepare for Perkins, the Gators used early enrollee Anthony Richardson as the scout-team quarterback during the team's bowl prep on campus.
Still, there's nothing like the real thing. Florida is a 14-point favorite over the Cavaliers and faced a variety of talented quarterbacks this season, including Burrow, Georgia's Jake Fromm and Missouri's Kelly Bryant.
Perkins fits right in. The Gators want to get physical with him early.
"Any time you've got a running quarterback, if you hit him a couple times, it's definitely going to change him,'' Greenard said. "They understand that he's going to feel our presence a lot more. However, we definitely just have to make sure that we still contain him at the end of the day. Even if we get one sack on him, we've still got to stay the same and be persistent on our pass rush. Overall, it's going to be a tough challenge and we've got our work cut out."
And as good of a runner that Perkins is – he has rushed for 20 scores and passed for 43 in his two seasons at Virginia – Grantham has seen the most improvement this season in his passing.
"The biggest thing that Perkins has done is been able to complete some vertical throws down the field,'' Grantham said. "Honestly, against Clemson [in the ACC Championship Game], they really could have scored the first two possessions of the game and maybe could have changed it a little bit there."
Instead, Clemson withstood the early punches and won 62-17. The Gators seek to do the same.
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