Gator Nation Has Seen Better Days At Quarterback

No, I'm not just referring to Driskel's performance of 11 of 23 for 59 yards and 3 interceptions.  Or the fact that he's thrown 5 interceptions over the last 7 quarters.  Sadly, I'm also talking about Treon Harris being at the center of a sexual assault/sexual battery investigation and Skyler Mornhingweg ending up in the hospital after a fight with his own teammate over some shoes.  Sure, we don't know the facts of Harris's case.  He may be innocent.  He may be guilty.  I don't know what happened, and neither do you.  We know a complaint was made and later was withdrawn.  People keep making comparisons between this case and Jameis Winston's case.  Sure, both men were backup QBs at schools in Florida at the time they were accused of wrongdoing.  But that's about where I stop at comparing similarities.  People want to make jokes about having Tallahassee's PD investigate the situation.  I get it - no one wants to see Driskel on the field (including me).  The complaint has now been withdrawn, but UF did the right thing by taking this accusation seriously.

It was after I started writing this that I saw that the accuser withdrew her complaint, and I'm not sure what that means for Harris's future, but I'd still be surprised if he plays tomorrow considering he hasn't practiced all week, and I haven't heard any word on his reinstatement.  I would ask that people put things in perspective with Harris, though.  He came in for the end of a game and provided a spark that led to a field goal and a touchdown.  I might credit Matt Jones a bit more than I'd credit Harris on those drives, but that's really not the point.  The point is, everyone is so convinced that our QB problems were solved and that suddenly we'd be great at football again because Harris helped us score 10 points against a team that has just 2 wins this year and hasn't beaten the Gators since 2004.  Bottom line: we beat an unranked team by one point.  A little perspective, please.

When Tyler Murphy started his first game last year, many people (myself included) thought, "hey, this guy could be better than Driskel!"  And maybe he was, I don't know.  But he wasn't great, and he certainly wasn't up to par with the high standards set by Florida fans.  He was not Spurrier.  He was not Wuerffel.  He certainly was not Tebow.  And I'm sorry to put things in perspective for everyone out there, but neither is Treon Harris.  He's short and he's inexperienced.  He hasn't done anything to prove he's great.  He's just proved he's better than Jeff Driskel, which I'm pretty sure I could do.  Honestly, if you put me on a football field, I think I could complete 11 passes for 59 yards and throw 3 interceptions.  I may even pass 60 yards.  The point is, Harris's few successful drives against Eastern Michigan and Tennessee do not suddenly make him an elite QB.  If none of this happened and he started against LSU, and UF lost, would everyone be screaming for Grier or - dare I say it - Mornhinweg?

Would I have preferred to see Harris play QB over Driskel? Absolutely.  Do I think people are going nuts now with all the posts and tweets about starting Harris this weekend? Absolutely.  He hasn't practiced all week.  Are people forgetting that?  Driskel will start, and he'll play most, if not all, of the game.  I will add that I personally think Jeff Driskel should be on UF's baseball team rather than the football team.  He seems like a hardworking guy, and he seems like he could actually be a good athlete.  I just don't think football is the right fit for him.  But I have respect for Muschamp (words I never thought I'd say) for suspending Harris amidst the serious allegations.  Yes, I want my football team to win games.  But do I want to win games so badly that I don't care at all about the character of the young men on the teams? Absolutely not.  I lived on campus my first 2 years at UF.  I've seen a lot of things.  And honestly, I think they made the right choice.

I read Treon Harris's lawyer's statement about the situation, and one line in his statement seemed a little strange to me.  He says that the accuser was the sexual aggressor with not just Treon that night, but also with another guy.  I must be missing something.  Why is it relevant if she was the sexual aggressor with another guy that night? If she had sex with five other guys that night, does that mean she's suddenly immune to rape for the rest of the evening? And no, I'm not looking for some pompous response to this from a legal perspective.  I want to know why this lawyer felt the need to release a statement to the public telling us that this girl was somehow sexually involved with another guy that night.  Whether she was lying, telling the truth or was simply confused when she made the complaint, I don't think an account of her consensual sexual activities with other men have any place here.

Yes, this is a sports blog, and yes, I'll make picks for this weekend.  But with such a serious allegation made against someone on my alma mater's football team, I felt it was necessary to at least make mention of the matter.

Now, onto football.

Rutgers had a big win last week over Michigan - but I thought rushing the field was completely over the top and actually quite embarrassing.  Nebraska didn't show up until late in the game last week, and it was too little, too late for the Huskers - especially when Armstrong sealed the game with a Geno Smith-type pass (read: he threw to the wrong team).  But a lot of crazy stuff happened last week.  TCU beat Oklahoma.  UCLA lost to Utah.  Alabama lost an October game.  Mississippi State looked good, and I still think Dan Mullen is trying to get his resume together for a hopefully-soon-to-be-open head coaching job at UF.  We'll see.

This week....

FSU has a conference game against the mighty Syracuse Orange... and I don't see any way Syracuse comes away with a home victory.  Sorry, Orange faithful.  I love Charlie Strong, but Oklahoma rebounds this week with a win.  Georgia wins at Missouri.  Wisconsin wins at home.  Miami wins at home.  Georgia Tech wins - but by 10 or less.  Baylor beats TCU.  UCLA beats Oregon.  Alabama beats Arkansas.  I want to believe Ole Miss will be prepared and beat Texas A&M, but they may still be flying high after last week.  Something tells me Auburn will squeak past Mississippi State, but I'm honestly pulling for Mullen in this one.  Auburn destroyed LSU last weekend.  And that gave me hope for the Gators this week.  It's a night game in the swamp, and LSU is not as lucky as in past years.  But if last week taught us anything, it's that anything can happen.  GO GATORS! Beat LSU!