Gators confident QB Treon Harris
UF confident QB can handle Georgia, lead team to East title
will improve and lead Gators to win versus rival.
GAINESVILLE — Quarterback Treon Harris’ first college start ended in one of the most unlikely upsets in the storied Florida-Georgia series.
This time, Harris will have to do more if the 13th-ranked Gators are to prevail — and possibly clinch their first SEC East division title since 2009.
Harris and the Gators will not be able to rally around the element of surprise, an embattled coach or an unstoppable rushing attack when Florida (6-1, 4-1 SEC) and Georgia (5-2, 3-2) meet Oct. 31 at Jacksonville’s EverBank Field.
During last season’s stunning 38-20 beatdown of the Bulldogs, Harris merely managed the game as a first-year freshman replacing struggling veteran Jeff Driskel. Florida tailbacks Matt Jones and Kelvin Taylor combined for 389 rushing yards and four scores to stave off coach Will Muschamp’s firing and bury the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff semifinal hopes.
This time, first-year coach Jim McElwain’s resurgent Gators have everything to lose
against their archrivals. Harris’ improvement following last week’s 35-28 loss at unbeaten LSU will be critical to Florida’s chances.
“He was able to see some really good things from the video that I’m sure he wants back,” McElwain said during Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. “Yet at the same time, I was happy with how he handled the environment. He made some plays that were big for us.
“I look forward to having him again this week just keep getting a little bit better.”
Stepping in for suspended starter Will Grier, Harris was understandably inconsistent during his first significant action of the SEC season.
Harris kept some plays alive with his feet, but he also was indecisive in the pocket and took five sacks. At 5-foot-11, Harris cannot survey the field as effectively as the 6-foot-2 Grier. But there were times when Harris had a passing lane and an open receiver, yet failed to connect with him.
Harris was 2-of-10 passing on the Gators’ final two drives, missing badly on several throws.
He was hamstrung by an ineffective running game. He finished with a teamhigh 55 rushing yards, not counting 35 yards lost on LSU’s sacks. Florida’s tailbacks averaged just 2.4 yards per carry.
During conference games, the Gators average an SEC-low 2.86 yards per rush.
“It’s huge,” McElwain said of the Gators’ need to improve on the ground. “I think all great teams are built on being able to run the football and being able to stop the run defensively. We need to continue to get better at that. We had some opportunities in the last ball game, and yet that’s a pretty darn good defense and they’ve got some really good players.
“Us being able to produce more, that’ll help in the play-action game.”
Behind their relentless run game, the Gators staked a 31-7 lead to put the Bulldogs on their heels during the teams’ last meeting.
Harris attempted just six passes, completing three of them for 27 yards and chipped in 37 rushing yards himself on six carries. McElwain will ask more of his quarterback than Muschamp did during the former Florida coach’s only win against Georgia in four tries.
Harris’ teammates expect him to deliver.
“We believe in Treon,” Taylor said after the LSU game. “We’re just going to build off this and just keep getting better and better.”
Despite Harris’ lategame struggles, Florida tight end Jake McGee said he was unflappable.
“There’s no nerves with him at all,” McGee said.
But even with Grier under center, the Gators have not relied on strong quarterback play to seize control of the SEC East. Florida can clinch the division title with a win over Georgia in Jacksonville if Missouri beats Vanderbilt, Mississippi State beats Kentucky and Alabama beats Tennessee this Saturday.
The LSU loss stung, but Harris and the Gators entered the bye week firmly in control of their destiny.
“We have to come and know . . . what’s at the end of the road, and so we take it a day at a time and a week at a time,” UF safety Marcus Maye said.