Redshirt freshman QB Anthony Richardson runs away from the USF defense on the way to his 80-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter of Saturday's 42-20 win at Tampa.
QBs Again the Focus in Win at USF
Saturday, September 11, 2021 | Football, Chris Harry
TAMPA — Suffice to say, Florida's lopsided road defeat of South Florida did little — more like next to nothing — to quell the Gators' quarterback debate. Externally, that is.
Emory Jones made some plays, but also made some glaring mistakes in 13th-ranked UF's 42-20 road win Saturday against South Florida at Raymond James Stadium. His backup, Anthony Richardson, threw a couple long touchdown passes and capped his afternoon with a spectacular 80-yard scoring run.
Sound familiar?
If not, the following post-game exchange just might, especially with next weekend's visit from No. 1 and reigning national champion Alabama on the horizon.
"Yes," UF coach Dan Mullen said after his 100th career victory. "You'll see both of them play every single game."
Emory Jones celebrates his 33-yard touchdown run in the first half. (Photo: Anissa Dimilta/UAA Communications)
Jones and Richardson combined for 500 of their team's 666 yards and had a hand in five of the six touchdowns, including a handful of so-called "explosive" plays. The Gators (2-0) went three-and-out on the game's first possession, but scored touchdowns on the next five in building a 35-3 lead at halftime. The undermanned Bulls, a week removed from losing 45-0 in their opener at North Carolina State, outscored the visitors 17-7 after halftime, thanks to a couple interceptions by Jones and a 45-yard punt return to set up another score.
South Florida managed just 283 yards of total offense, but only 95 rushing on 41 carries.
"I think we played well," UF sixth-year linebacker Jeremiah Moon said. "It came down to being detailed in what we were doing, and giving up a couple plays here and there. We just have to lock in and focus on the details."
Mullen put it this way: "We can improve on everything."
Let's start with the starting QB. Jones, the fourth-year junior, completed 14 of his 22 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown, but also had two troubling third-quarter interceptions that set up 10 USF points. Jones also rushed 11 times for 82 yards, with a 33-yard TD run. If his game had stopped at halftime, the takeaway from his play would have been different.
Now for the backup. Richardson went 3-for-3 through the air, with TD strikes of 75 and 41 yards to Jacob Copeland, who after catching just one pass for 15 yards a week ago had a monster day of five receptions for 175 yards and the pair of scores. Richardson, meanwhile, also mixed in four rushes for 115 yards, including that 80-yard gallop that ended with him pulling up pseudo-lame (Mullen said it was a hamstring tweak) crossing the goal line. In two games, the 6-foot-4, 236-pounder has carried 11 times for 275 yards — that would be 25.0 yards per carry — and two touchdowns.
"It's crazy," Moon said of being a defender (and teammate) watching Richardson from the sideline. "We can't touch the quarterback in practice, so some of the stuff he does on the field we haven't even seen. So we're just going to let him keep doing his thing. He's a great athlete for his size. He's 240 pounds. He can fly and jump over people. He can do everything."
Everything but start.
Linebacker Jeremiah Moon (7) celebrates his sack on USF's first possession of the game. (Photo: Anissa Dimilta/UAA Communications)
The Gators shook off a poor first possession (a three-and-out, with two Jones' incompletions) by striking quickly on their second after the UF defense returned the three-and-out favor. First, Jones rolled right and hit Rick Wells for 20 yards down the sideline. The next three plays were runs of 16, 20 and 7 by tailback Dameon Pierce, the last up the gut for Pierce's third touchdown of the season, for a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.
Florida's defense, momentarily, dodged one on the second USF series, when a double pass by wide receiver Xavier Weaver was dropped by fellow Bulls wideout Kelly Joiner Jr., who was running wide-open through the UF secondary about 40 yards downfield. Instead, though, quarterback Cade Fortin methodically marched his team down the field, converting three third downs, before settling for a 25-yard field goal from Spencer Shrader for the team's first points of the season.
Enter Richardson on UF's third series. On first down from the Florida 25, Richardson play-faked, set up and dropped a 75-yard touchdown strike to Copeland, who easily beat safety Matthew Hill on a deep post for a 14-3 lead that needed just 11 seconds to materialize.
The Bulls reached the UF 33, but were turned back on downs. Jones went back in the game and started an eight-play, 67-yard drive with a 17-yard completion to Xzavier Henderson and finished it with a perfectly thrown touch pass and 30-yard scoring strike to Henderson up the left sideline to make it 21-3 at 12:36 mark of the second period.
After a defensive stop, back came Richardson again. He got things going, under pressure, by taking off for an 18-yard scramble. Two plays later, Richardson took the snap, feigned a run into the line, then backed up (ala Tim Tebow) and launched a perfectly thrown 41-yard touchdown to Copeland, taking the UF lead to 28-3.
"He does some special things," Mullen said of his young QB. "He doesn't always do the right things."
Mullen did not elaborate. Nor did he have to. Clearly, he has his reasons, opinions and beliefs on where this is going. Fair enough. It's his team. Jones, for his part, made some really nice plays, just like he did a week ago. After Kaiir Elam intercepted Fortin on an overthrown pass, Jones capped a three-play, 51-yard drive with a 33-yard scoring run off an option keeper and 35-3 margin.
"I felt more comfortable out there, as you could probably see," Jones said. "I mean, I definitely feel like I improved from last week."
At that point, it looked like the Gators could pick their score, assuming no mistakes, of course. Alas, on UF's first series of the second half, Jones' short pass into the right flat for Justin Shorter was intercepted by Mekhi LaPointe, who returned the ball 50 yards before Shorter hauled him down the Florida 10. On third-and-goal at the 1, new USF quarterback Timmy McClain was unable to snatch a high snap, with the ball caroming backward 14 yards and recovered by the Bulls. They settled for 32-yard field goal and a 35-6 deficit.
Jacob Copeland, who had one catch for 15 yards last week against Florida Atlantic, had five receptions for 175 yards and TDs of 75 and 41 yards against USF. (Photo: Isabella Marley/UAA Communications)
Jones seemed unfazed by the miscue on the next series. He had a 15-yard completion to Henderson and 13 yards on two carries to help UF move to the USF 37. On a second-and-1, though, Jones had Trent Whittemore wide open on a right-to-left crossing route, but the ball was under thrown and intercepted by safety Brock Nichols, who returned the play 38 yards to the UF 43. Five plays later, Jaren Mangham bulled over for a 1-yard run — making 10 unanswered USF points — to make the score 35-13.
"Those are just some growing mistakes," Mullen said. "The first one was a bad one. The second one he has to speed up his read. He was late on the throw. Those are things you have to continue to learn. I thought he played much better than last week — in the first half, for sure — and I think we just got sloppy in the second half. You have to execute every snap in the game. There are so few opportunities."
Yes, that's true. So is the fact that Richardson made the most of his few. He was back in after the second Jones pick and immediately hit a 35-yard pass, rolling to his left and against his body, to Copeland down to the USF 7. Richardson's helmet came off off on the play, meaning he had to exit for a play.
Back came Jones, to finish the drive, as it turned out, but the Gators were turned away on downs at the Bulls' 4.
Two UF possessions later, Richardson took off on an 80-yard touchdown run. He was done for the day.
The quarterback conversion — bet on it — will continue for the next few.
