Florida QB Driskel injures knee, will play after bye

By Adam Silverstein
September 9, 2013

Florida Gators junior quarterback Jeff Driskel was seen Monday walking around campus on crutches. Just before noon, the school announced via Twitter that Driskel was injured during Saturday’s 21-16 loss to the Miami Hurricanes but will be healthy enough to play the team’s next game.

“Jeff Driskel suffered a slight sprain in his knee in the [second] quarter of the Miami game. He is taking some weight off of it this week and will be ready for the Tennessee game next week,” said a program spokesman in a series of tweets.

Based on the timetable established by UF, Driskel’s injury likely occurred at the 9:28 mark in the second quarter when, running a read-option play from the pistol formation, he was tackled and hit in his left knee. He hobbled when he stood up.

Driskel, who went 22-for-33 and passed for a career-high 291 yards on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL, scored two touchdowns on the afternoon but also committed three turnovers including two costly red zone interceptions and a fumble inside the Gators’ five-yard line late in the fourth quarter.

“It started with me. I was careless with the ball,” he said after the game.

Driskel’s first interception came three plays into the second quarter. His second pick was thrown with 9:30 remaining in the contest.

“You just got to play smart football in some situations,” said head coach Will Muschamp during his post-game press conference. “You can’t throw the ball into traffic in the red zone. In those critical situations, you’re taking points off the board, you’re creating momentum for the other team. A lot of things go on when that happens. It’s not just the fact that you had a turnover. Those are situations we got to correct.”

Depending on the severity of the injury, Driskel could rest for up to two full weeks as the Gators are currently on their bye. Florida will next take the field on Sept. 21 when it hosts the Tennessee Volunteers at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, FL.

It was announced Monday that the game will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and air live on CBS.

The Florida-Tennessee game aired on CBS for 16-straight seasons from 1996-2011 and was played at 3:30 p.m. consecutively from 2007-11. Last season, CBS chose to air Alabama-Arkansas instead and UF-UT was picked up by ESPN for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

12 Comments

  1. sjkoepp says:

    I wonder if that’s why they abandoned the read option. They seemed to move the ball better on those plays versus the straight run plays. Also, for anyone who watched the game on tv- was the whole o-line injured? It seemed like it was a revolving door of guys there, and I heard some were injured but no one seems to be mentioning it. I was at the game in nosebleeds so I couldn’t see much.

  2. Crock says:

    I really hate to say it.

    But I told you so.

    In other news. This team is really really good. If Driskel can play smart(not sure he can). We will be in Atlanta.
    We completely dominated the Canes.

  3. cline says:

    hopefully he can still practice.

  4. SAD GATOR says:

    🙁

  5. gatorboi352 says:

    “Florida QB Driskel injures knee…” Oh??

    “….will play after bye” DAMMIT.

    Also, why is it already so determined that he will play vs. Tenn?
    “Just before noon, the school announced via Twitter that Driskel was injured during Saturday’s 21-16 loss to the Miami Hurricanes but will be healthy enough to play the team’s next game.”

    Do they have crystal balls over there? Are they doing PR damage control on his performance Saturday?

  6. cline says:

    Dunbar wide open on that one.

    • Sammage says:

      Yeah, and looking at that replay it sure looks like all Jeff had to do was lob the ball over the defender’s head to get a big play. I can’t tell if there was anyone rotating over in coverage, but the man on Dunbar sold out on the run early. Didn’t even consider a pass doesn’t look like to me. During the game I thought he was past the line, but when he pumped the ball he was behind it.

    • joe says:

      If he threw it to Dunbar, it would have been an ineligible man down field penalty and a loss of down, as the entire O-line was past the neutral zone.

  7. Sammage says:

    Will give the back ups some reps in practice at least I hope. Be nice to have a back up plan.

  8. HardToKillGtr says:

    Agreed. Wonder why a head coach at a big time school with a big time football team not have an almost ready to play back up for a running quarterback? I know Coach M understands offense from a defensive point of view. Something’s not right when the defense has to score 21 points to win a game.

  9. Joe says:

    His knee may be better for Tenn but the real problem are is constant brain cramps.

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