David Pollack, Desmond Howard discuss Anthony Richardson's passing ability, room for improvement

After Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson put together an impressive performance in the season opener against Utah, the hype surrounding him skyrocketed. The Gators went from unranked to No. 12 in the AP poll the following week and Richardson even started receiving some Heisman buzz.

However, the quarterback would struggle over the next two weeks, throwing a combined four interceptions as Florida lost to Kentucky and narrowly escaped South Florida. Richardson has yet to throw a touchdown (all three of his scores against Utah came on the ground) through the first three games of the season and has a completion percentage of just 53.2%.

ESPN analyst David Pollack and Desmond Howard joined College Football Live on ESPN2 on Wednesday, where they discussed the struggles from the Gators QB of late.

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“There’s a bunch of hype, especially coming off the Utah game where they won that game in The Swamp, it was a hard fought game, they go toe-to-toe, back-and-forth,” Howard started off. “But the highlight of the game was a two-point conversion. It was a really spectacular play from Anthony Richardson. A great throw. Showed how elusive he is. But that play ran in such a loop that people thought he was throwing an actual touchdown. He has not thrown a touchdown yet. He’s thrown zero touchdowns and four interceptions and I believe people thought that was a touchdown throw.

“It was a knee-jerk reaction to how spectacular he is as a quarterback. Now he’s a guy who’s on the Heisman list. But I believe it was a knee-jerk reaction. It was an overreaction. He’s only completed 53% of his passes so far. They lost to Kentucky. Almost lost to USF. So, Dave, I think that first game against Utah was a gross overreaction from that two-point conversion that many people thought was an actual touchdown throw.”

Richardson has taken a step back in his production on the ground the past two games as well. After rushing for 106 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries against Utah, he combined for just 30 yards on 13 carries in Weeks 2 and 3.

Pollack believes that is because defenses saw the damage Richardson did the first week, and have since adjusted their game plans. He also pointed out the quarterback missed his receivers on quite a few throws, but the arm strength is still there.

“When I watch Anthony Richardson, especially Week 1, you just say, ‘Wow,'” Pollack said. “A guy that fast, that dynamic. Made several plays that game. A long touchdown run up the left sideline that was really sensational. He makes the ‘Wow’ plays. But what you’re watching when you start to watch the tape and start to study him is he’s got a lot of misses. He’s got a great arm. Dude can sling it. He’s got a great, elite arm — but you watch and there’s been a lot of misses. His wide receivers aren’t getting open every single play by any stretch.

“I think what you learned from the Utah game moving forward is defenses have learned now to take away the boot action, take away his running and make him be a good timing passer. As you can see, he’s struggled to put completions together. Like Des said, he still hasn’t thrown for a touchdown on the season for a guy who is as exciting and has so much talent.”

Anthony Richardson flashed his potential in the first week, but will now have to work harder to continue to have success for Florida. He’ll look to turn things around in Week 4, when the Gators have a big game against No. 11 Tennessee at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Knoxville.