Sunshine Sentinel

Florida Gators issued the following announcement on Sept. 4.

The chorus grew louder each time Anthony Richardson hurdled an FAU defender or made an Owl whiff on a tackle. Finally, after Richardson raced 73 yards for the Gators' final touchdown Saturday night in their 35-14 season-opening win, the social-media pundits had seen enough.

They declared Richardson, a redshirt freshman and former prep star at Eastside High a few miles from "The Swamp," ready to be Florida's starting quarterback. Some appeared willing to cast a Heisman vote if they had one.

Truth be told, the 6-foot-4, 236-pound Richardson impressed throughout preseason camp with his ability and his presence, a 19-year-old man-child with a strong right arm and gravelly voice. He's an intriguing talent. There's no denying that and why he's on the roster.

"He's exciting with the ball in his hand,'' Gators coach Dan Mullen said after he improved to 4-0 in season openers at UF. "I think he's going to be a great player for us. I think you saw that tonight, his athleticism."

The caveat here, of course, is that fourth-year junior Emory Jones made his first career start on Saturday after waiting his turn behind Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask. The 6-foot-2, 211-pound Jones is gifted in his own way, an elusive runner who has shown a rifle arm on occasion.

Jones took the field Saturday with high expectations. He made some plays, including calling an audible and then checking back to the original call on Florida's first score, a pitch to running back Dameon Pierce that resulted in a 2-yard touchdown run.

"And it worked,'' Jones said.

Jones finished 17 of 27 for 113 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He rushed 10 times for 74 yards in a game that was never seriously in doubt after the Gators took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of drives directed by Jones. He tossed his first touchdown of the season on the Gators' second drive, connecting with Rick Wells for a 9-yard score.

Still, Jones admitted he wasn't as sharp as he would have liked. He misread a signal from the sideline on a fourth-and-goal from FAU's 4-yard line that resulted Jones running into a pile of Owl defenders and turning the ball over on downs.

"He wasn't sure with the play call," Mullen said. "That's an experience deal. He's got to take a timeout for us."

And he threw a pair of interceptions, including one in the end zone on third-and-seven from FAU's 12-yard line in the first half.

Jones handled some thorny questions like a veteran in his postgame press conference.

"I don't really feel that good about it, honestly," Jones said of his performance afterward. "I definitely have to play better and just overall, we have to play better. We just have to get back in the lab. I feel like I still made a lot of mistakes early in the game that you probably couldn't see. I missed too many throws that I never do. It's just getting more comfortable, just being out there actually being the starter."

Mullen said the plan entering the game was for Jones and Richardson both to receive reps in the opener. He stuck to the script when Richardson entered the game on Florida's first drive of the second quarter. Richardson immediately made his presence felt on three consecutive runs that moved Florida from the FAU 35 to the Owls' 7. Then, after a delay-of-game penalty, Jones was picked off by Diashun Moss in the end zone.

Mullen reacted incredulously when asked by SEC Network sideline reporter Cole Cubelic about the possibility of a quarterback change heading into next week's game in Tampa against USF. He provided context to the beat reporters about a half hour later.

"The plan was that we were going to play both of them,'' Mullen said. "We got Anthony that series in the first half and then wanted to get him another couple of series in the second half. I thought he did a good job, missed some reads. But I thought it was good for him to get experience.

"It was great for Emory to get that experience as a starter right now, for his first game out there. He missed some reads too, but I think you see that both of them have the ability to make explosive plays. The nice thing is, I'm pretty confident with both the quarterbacks. Obviously, Emory's our starter. As you get the experience, you roll the guys through. We did that tonight and it was great to see them both make some really explosive plays."

Original source can be found here.