Texas A&M coach Mike Elko breaks down challenge of preparing for multiple Florida quarterbacks
Going into Saturday’s SEC opener for Florida and Texas A&M, all eyes are in the Gators backfield, where a potential quarterback controversy looms.
Graham Mertz is the team’s senior starter, going into the season about as entrenched as they come. But a concussion suffered in Week 1 allowed freshman phenom DJ Lagway to make his first start in Week 2, and Lagway did not disappoint.
The talented former five-star-plus prospect threw for a freshman record 456 yards in his debut, looking every bit the part of a future superstar. Now Texas A&M coach Mike Elko must prepare for two different quarterbacks.
“I don’t know that it’s a ton different,” Elko said Wednesday on an SEC teleconference call. “Obviously they both have skill sets and they’re going to accentuate the skill sets of each kid a little bit more. But I think you also got to remember that there’s 10 other kids on the team preparing. And so I don’t think you can go into it and prepare two different offenses.”
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Whether Florida can prepare multiple looks remains to be seen, but it does seem like the Gators might play both quarterbacks.
Elko is setting his Texas A&M team up to prepare for both this week, knowing he must be ready in the event Florida veers toward one guy or the other.
“I think you’ve got to set up a plan for what you expect them to feature when Graham is back there,” Elko said. “You’ve got to have a plan of what you expect them to feature when DJ is back there. I think the biggest thing in these types of situations is you know you have to be ready to adjust as the game starts going forward.”
Make no mistake about it, though: Texas A&M will not take Lagway lightly even though he’s a freshman. They’ve seen the film from last week.
“Obviously he showed the tremendous talent that he has,” Elko said. “I think he has a big arm. He threw the ball all over the field. He looked really dynamic operating the offense. He certainly didn’t look like a young kid. He seemed very calm back there, very comfortable. I think he’s a weapon. He’s going to be a great quarterback, for sure, in the future.”
Florida and Texas A&M will meet at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday with a national broadcast on ABC.