Anthony Richardson's first SEC road win a ‘pivotal day’ in his career
COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson added another feather in his cap Saturday, winning his first SEC road game as a starter. Richardson led the Gators to a 41-24 win over Texas A&M, scoring two passing touchdowns and two rushing TDs for the second time this season.
Richardson had his fourth 200-yard passing game of the year, throwing for 201 yards on 17-of-28 attempts, and rushed for 78 yards on seven carries, including a 60-yard touchdown run. He now has seven career scores of 60-plus yards.
UF coach Billy Napier had a message for him in the waning minutes.
“I told Anthony there late in the game, Anthony’s going to play this game for a long time,” Napier said. “He’ll look back and I think this will be one of those days where he’ll say, ‘This was a pivotal day.’ Just playing with confidence. I thought he started fast, really thorough in his prep during the week. He’s a 20-year-old first-year starter in a new system.
“Again, I think Anthony’s problems aren’t physical. I think it’s about development, it’s about getting comfortable with a role, being a leader, being vocal, improving as a communicator, playing as a competitor and playing for your teammates — taking yours and beating theirs. I just really think today was a big step was in the right direction for him.”
Richardson said he and Napier always talk in between drives, but the conversation they shared at the end of the Texas A&M game was different. Napier wanted his starting quarterback to soak up the moment and understand why he played so well in College Station.
“He was telling me this was going to help me play in the future,” Richardson said. “All week I’ve just been working on my leadership, just trying to hold guys together and just keep the team pushing. Allowing us to come out there and play fast, play strong.
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“But he told me this was going to be a turning point of my career in my life. I kind of see that, because I think I’m getting better with my leadership. So, that’s kind of something I want to keep improving on. And that’s pretty much what he touched up on.”
Richardson admits the leadership role as a starting quarterback hasn’t come easy to him. Dating back to his high school career, he’s always been a lead-by-example guy and let his play do the talking. As Napier mentioned, being more vocal and improving as a communicator has been a point of emphasis for Richardson.
“It’s a challenge trying to be a leader, but sometimes you gotta fight through those challenges and try to grow,” Richardson said. “It’s definitely new (to him). Because as a leader, I haven’t always been the type of guy to communicate a lot.
“I just try to lead by example and show guys how to do things. But, I see that’s not the only way you can be a leader. You can lead by example and then communicate with guys and connect with them. It makes it a lot easier to lead people.”
