TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama quarterback Blake Sims, in his fourth collegiate start, threw for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel, in his 18th collegiate start, threw for 93 yards and 2 interceptions.
I will defer to University of Florida legend Emmitt Smith, who tweeted during Alabama's 42-21 methodical dismantling of the Gators on Saturday: "Put Jeff Driskel on the bench, please. I have seen enough."
With all due respect to Emmitt, Driskel is not going to get benched -- at least not yet -- but there does come a time when a starting quarterback who's been in a program for four years needs to start making big plays in big games. For whatever reason -- whether it's staying healthy, a revolving door of offensive coordinators and a penchant for inaccurate throws in key situations -- Driskel, a redshirt junior, has not made nearly enough of those big plays.
Sims, who was brought to Alabama to play defensive back and was moved to running back before he finally got a chance to play quarterback, was absolutely phenomenal in leading his team to 645-200 edge in total offense Saturday.
Meanwhile, Driskel, the former prep All-American and the No. 1-ranked high school quarterback in the country, played one of his worst games. And now he takes his place on the hot seat right next to his Coach Will Muschamp.
Obviously, there are still a lot of games to be played, but Muschamp's team must play better in the coming weeks if he is to keep his job. Florida Athletic Director Jeremy Foley told me last week that Muschamp "doesn't have to win "X-number of games", but did say, "We need to be better. We need to be moving in the right direction. The goals for Gator football are to be in the hunt, to be a factor, to be relevant."
It's hard to say after two SEC games that the Gators are moving in the right direction. The Gators scored just three points in the first half and then needed three overtimes to beat perennial SEC doormat Kentucky at home last week.
Then on Saturday, Muschamp's vaunted defense killed itself with busted coverage early in the game, got steamrolled late in the game and gave up more yards than any defense in Gator history has ever given up. On a day when Alabama commemorated the 50-year anniversary of their Joe Namath-quarterbacked 1964 national championship team, Florida's 'D' made Sims look like the second coming of Broadway Joe.
You'd like to say Driskel has grown up as a quarterback in that time, but it was difficult to tell on Saturday when he completed only 9 of 28 passes and converted 2 of 13 third downs.
Muschamp said he thought about inserting true freshman backup quarterback Treon Harris on Saturday, but thought better of it.
"Jeff gives us the best opportunity right now," Muschamp said. "For us to to win a football game like that, Jeff Driskel needs to play. Moving forward, we have to play better at that position and a lot of other positions. We'll evaluate that."
Said Driskel: "We didn't make the plays when they were there and they did make the plays. I didn't get it done; we didn't get it done."
Four years into Driskel's college career, he desperately needs to start getting it done soon.
The clock is ticking.
Sports on 09/22/2014