In the first drive of the night, Jim McElwain decided that his best bet was Will Grier.
In the second drive of the night, a short drive following an interception, the best bet was Grier.
In the fourth and fifth drives, when the Gators drove for 124 yards, scored a touchdown and missed a field goal, the best bet was Grier.
He was the best bet for the drive after he threw an interception. He was the best bet after he was injured and had to go back into the game. He was the best bet when it was time to run out the clock.
Now? Now coach McElwain seems to be hedging his bets.
Although Grier was his choice at quarterback for each of the 11 possessions of the Gators’ 14-9 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats, McElwain has gone out of his way to say that his team’s quarterback competition between Grier and Treon Harris still isn’t over. McElwain has heavily hinted that Harris will get some playing time this week against Tennessee.
“We’ll decide as we move forward, and that’s something we’ll talk about as we go.,” McElwain said. “I wouldn’t look into that more than we were kind of in the flow there a little bit. We just felt like in the last game we had some opportunities where maybe we should have put (Harris) in. We kind of get a feel for it and that’s what we talked about. There are some things we’ve really got to work on that position.”
For the Gators, Saturday’s game against Tennessee will be a test for his quarterbacks. If not for a blown lead against Oklahoma, the Vols would be unbeaten.
“He made some big plays with his feet, using his feet as a check down,” McElwain said. “Sometimes what happens to you is you like, ‘Hey, this is cool, man, I’ll just drop back, look for a hole and run.’ (He) left some plays on the field.”
For the Gators to be efficient enough to beat Tennessee, that can’t happen again. No matter how many series he gets.
