Dan Mullen downplays Florida quarterback controversy

The No. 14 Florida Gators may have failed to cover a 23.5-point spread against the FAU Owls on Saturday, but head coach Dan Mullen still led his team to 35-14 victory in the season opener.

The win, however, came with its fair share of controversy after Emory Jones, Florida’s starting quarterback, was outplayed by redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson.

“I think the plan was to play both of them,” Mullen said after the game. “Anthony had that series in the first half and had a couple other series in the second half. I thought he did a good job. He missed a couple reads, but I thought it was good for him to get that experience as a starter for his first game out there. But both of them have the ability to make explosive plays and the nice thing is that I’m pretty confident with both the quarterbacks.”

Jones waited four years for his chance to be Florida’s starting quarterback. Formerly a four-star recruit, the redshirt junior was forced to sit behind two different quarterbacks in his time with the Gators, first serving as the backup to Feleipe Franks, then holding a similar role behind Kyle Trask, who has since been drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In his first-career start, Jones completed 17 of 27 pass attempts for 113 passing yards, one passing touchdown and two interceptions. Richardson, who came on late in Saturday’s contest, only completed three of eight passes for 40 yards — but his seven-carry, 160-yard, one-touchdown rushing performance left fans eager to see more.

Mullen on Saturday shot down any possibility that Richardson will take the starting job from Jones — at least, in the immediate future.

“Obviously, Emory is our starter as we get the experience, we roll the guys through,” Mullen said. “We did that tonight and it was good to see them both make some really explosive plays.”

Richardson showed his explosiveness in the Gators’ 14-point fourth quarter. Particularly, on Florida’s last scoring drive, when he ran for a 73-yard touchdown on a play-action fake.

He also displayed immense playmaking abilities, even when the pocket collapses; he pulled of two highlight-reel runs, one that saw Richardson stiff-arm an FAU defender, and another that saw Richardson hurdle a defender en route to a first down.

Mullen was impressed by Richardson’s play on Saturday, but he said that the redshirt freshman still has some growing to do before he can assume greater responsibility.

“He’s exciting with the ball in his hands, isn’t he? I think he’s going to be a great player,” Mullen said. “I think you saw that tonight, his athleticism, he’s a special guy with the ball in his hands. Anthony did some nice things, but you got to run the whole offense, and I think Anthony is really growing with situations. I think he will continue to grow with situations.”