CARLTON REESE: The Moment Was Too Big For A Freshman. Anthony Richardson Wasn’t Ready For Saturday

Remember this guy? Would Emory Jones have been a better option? (Chris Spears photo)

By CARLTON REESE

The fans wanted him, and in the end got exactly what they asked for: A freshman quarterback taking the reins against the No.1 team in the country with perhaps the decade’s best defense. What ensued probably surprised many people, but shouldn’t have. Anthony Richardson, with his lack of command of Dan Mullen’s offense, would need a lot more than just his rare athletic ability to garner any success against Georgia, and the ugly aftermath that should have been anticipated did come to fruition Saturday in Jacksonville.

The Florida defense did its job, playing well enough to give the Gators a chance with even an average performance from its offense. Alas, Richardson was clearly not ready for the moment and the Florida offense played just well enough to keep its 417-game scoring streak alive, about the only drama to keep fan interest.

Those leaps over defenders and highlight reel cuts look really good against FAU, South Florida and a bad LSU team, but they mean nothing against a real defense. Against a real defense, the quarterback must be capable of making quick decisions, anticipating secondary options and safety valves, and remaining cool under pressure. Richardson failed on all three counts against the Dawgs.

Florida has played one other game against a defense that would be considered elite – Alabama – and Emory Jones looked every bit the part of a player ready for such a big moment. Georgia presented another opportunity for a veteran to prove his worth, but we’ll never know.

Many fans are now giving up on Mullen, the guy who followed their orders in tabbing Richardson to not only start against Georgia but to take the wheel for the entire game. Even when it seemed obvious – a lost fumble and a couple of picks including one that was returned for a touchdown – that Jones would take his turn in the driver’s seat, there was Richardson back on the field.

Keep in mind, when Richardson develops, he may actually be Cam Newton, dazzling the world and hauling in hardware to fill up a garage. Anthony Richardson is the future of the Florida Gators, but this is the present.

Even with Florida’s season over, when you take the field against the Georgia Bulldogs you must play for the present and put your best option on the field to win right there and not simply give players reps in preparation for next year. On Saturday, as opposed to what the masses were saying, Emory Jones was Florida’s best option and it appeared pretty early in the game to be the case. So what happened to the QB rotation?

Mullen has earned a reputation for game-planning an offense to shred even the stingiest of defenses and all Gator fans were resting their hopes on this notion. Aside from a few gadget plays that failed, we witnessed vanilla paste, perhaps the only flavor available to Mullen with a freshman QB at the helm.

Still, late in the second quarter the Gators trailed only 3-0 and had just intercepted Stetson Bennett. That interception set the stage for the next 47 seconds of hell.

When Rashad Torrance intercepted Bennett, his momentum took him into the end zone where he should have stayed put, giving UF the ball at its own 20. Instead, Torrance brought it out to the 2 where the Gators would have to start and employ an offense not necessarily suited to its game plan. A strip, a one-play touchdown drive, an interception two plays later and a touchdown pass on the next play sealed this game. With a 17-point lead, there was no way the Georgia defense was going to blow this one.

With 17 seconds remaining in the first half, Richardson threw one to a Georgia defender who returned it for six points, capping perhaps the worst 2 minutes and 15 seconds in college football history. The final tally for Georgia: two offensive plays, three touchdowns and the salting away of a game that looked winnable moments earlier when you took that bathroom break following Torrance’s interception. When you returned to the living room, it was a blowout and time to see if Clemson could hang on to beat FSU.

The message boards are full of Gator fans calling for Mullen’s neck. These are the same folks who lambasted Mullen for penciling in Jones to start at QB each week before Saturday. They’re the same ones who had been shopping for nooses to fit the neck of Todd Grantham, defensive coordinator and scapegoat for the 49-point debacle in Baton Rouge two weeks ago.

Grantham seemed up to the challenge of preparing for the Georgia offense, but that won’t get much discussion. Proper perspective says Grantham’s defense has been bad for five quarters: the first one against Alabama and all four against LSU. Was the defense to blame for the Alabama loss? For the Kentucky loss? For the Georgia loss? No, no and no.

Where is the answer? We know the answer does not come from the peanut gallery of fans and pundits who have been wrong on just about everything. Mullen may not have the answer, either, but at this point who really cares? The Gators are 4-4 and headed to some place like Shreveport for the holidays.

The next three games are likely comfortable wins, with FSU not so much. For Mullen, to win the next three games but lose to the Seminoles may be too much for this fan base to endure. If the fans run Mullen out of town, Richardson may follow as well and the whole thing collapses.

A note to fans: Be careful what you wish for.

This is what it looked like on the first play with Anthony Richardson as the starter. But was it the correct decision by Dan Mullen? (Buddy Martin photo)