Driskel to start for Florida in SEC opener

By David Jones, Florida Today

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida football coach Will Muschamp said Monday that Jeff Driskel will start at quarterback Saturday as the Gators visit Texas A&M in both teams' Southeastern Conference opener.

"I told Jeff I don't want you looking over your shoulder but you need to play well,'' Muschamp said.

"He wants me to play loose and calm so that's what I'm going to do," Driskel said. "He told me today I was going to play. He told me the choice wasn't just based on Saturday, through out camp and through out practice they had been evaluating us for a while.''

Driskel completed 10 of 16 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown in the season-opening 27-14 win against Bowling Green. He shared the job with Jacoby Brissett last week.

"I just felt like at this time it's good to name one guy and go with it,'' Muschamp said.

He said Driskel's ability to make things happen running with the ball "played a big part'' in the decision.

"I think right now in the development of our offense, that's something that's going to benefit us,'' Muschamp said.

He added Brissett needed to understand "he's one snap way.''

Brissett "wasn't very happy'' when being told he was No. 2, the coach said.

"I would expect that,'' Muschamp said.

Brissett was the No. 2 quarterback last season behind John Brantley, after Driskel started the season as the backup. Now it's Brissett, also a sophomore, who must take a back seat. Driskel said he planned to talk to his teammate but that the conversation would remain private.

"Obviously it was tough,'' Driskel said of falling behind Brissett last year. "But I didn't let it get to me too much. At first I was real upset and going through a little tough time. But I had the support of family and friends and just stayed working hard.''

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Ten steps down to the field to start college football

So it begins Thursday night, and here's one of the best things about the start of the college football season:

By Jack Dempsey,, AP

Boise State redshirt junior Joe Southwick is merely following in the footsteps of Kellen Moore, who had a major college-record 50 wins in his Broncos career.

By Jack Dempsey,, AP

Boise State redshirt junior Joe Southwick is merely following in the footsteps of Kellen Moore, who had a major college-record 50 wins in his Broncos career.

Nobody can really be sure what's about to happen. No dress rehearsals. Straight from tackling dummies to opening night.

"High school, you get scrimmages. NFL, you get preseason games,'' Baylor coach Art Briles said the other day. "College, they blow the whistle and it's real."

Not that Week 1 won't quickly remind us who is who faster than you can say Jacksonville State at Arkansas. But not everyone is tailgating on snack food. Alabama and Michigan meet for the first time in the regular season.

Here's the proverbial countdown to kickoff. After that, can the first Heisman poll be far behind?

10… College basketball has Butlers and Virginia Commonwealths, but in football, the true elite is a harder to get into than Augusta National. For the preseason polls, we always round up the usual suspects. Take Oklahoma. This year's freshmen were in kindergarten the last time the Sooners were not ranked in the preseason top 10.

9… The season can't officially start without yet another example of Southeastern Conference dominance. The league has nine wins in Bowl Championship Series games since 2006. No other conference has more than five. If you think you're sick of hearing about how powerful the SEC is, just imagine if you were Vanderbilt.

8… When Josh Nunes was 8 years old, his father brought home a Stanford cap, plopped it on his son's head and proclaimed, "That's where you belong.'' Now Nunes is an engineering major at Stanford and starting Friday against San Jose State, the quarterback replacing Andrew Luck. What if the cap had been Cal Tech?

7… Southern California has outfitted seven Heisman winners, if you count the one Reggie Bush had repossessed. There is every reason to believe Matt Barkley can be No. 8, though excitement might have gotten the better of someone to put a Barkley billboard two blocks from UCLA's campus.

P.S.: It's not there anymore.

6…Bret Bielema lost six assistants at Wisconsin, so the big hole might not be on offense or defense but at staff meetings. Then again, if he keeps getting graduate quarterbacks to transfer to Madison — North Carolina State's Russell Wilson last season, Maryland's Danny O'Brien this one — he'll be fine. Wisconsin might end up sending more Atlantic Coast Conference quarterbacks to bowls than Duke.

5… Baylor had five offensive players drafted by the NFL, so Nick Florence won't be the only new face. But he's the only one following a Heisman Trophy winner. The heir to Robert Griffin III is newly married, an economics graduate working on his MBA and son of Baylor graduates. But can he find the open receiver against Texas?

4 … Notre Dame's suspended players for its opener could fill a Ford Focus. Among the four missing the Navy game will be top running back Cierre Wood and 2011 starting quarterback Tommy Rees. This is an important year for Brian Kelly and the schedule is brutal, so it'd be nice if he didn't have to spend so much time as judge.

3…West Virginia not only joins the Big 12 but wins it. The SEC's national title streak is ended by USC's Lane Kiffin, who was used as target practice his one year in the league at Tennessee. Arkansas finally gets past Alabama and LSU, with John L. Smith as the new, non-motorcycle riding coach. Three intriguing, and entirely possible, story lines for the season.

2… Joe Southwick has two touchdown passes at Boise State. Now he takes over for Kellen Moore, who had 142. His first game is Friday at Michigan State, and he understands he'll need lots of direction.

"I want to get coached like an eighth-grader,'' he mentioned. "Something Peyton Manning once said.''

1… A thousand-mile journey begins with one step. That comes from Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, who probably never saw a game at Penn State. But no football program ever had to take a first step like it must Saturday in State College.

It's kickoff.

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