Florida Football: It's Too Early to Get Down on Gators Starting QB Jeff Driskel

Florida head coach Will Muschamp decided last week to play both Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett vs. Bowling Green in order to gauge how each of them handles game situations.

Driskel completed 10 of 16 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown, while Brissett was 3-of-5 for 31 yards

Just like that, the battle to become Florida's starting quarterback was over.

Muschamp announced that Driskel will be his starting quarterback when the Gators hit the road and play the Texas A&M Aggies this Saturday in College Station, Texas, according to GatorSports.com.

“It's nothing Jacoby did not do. I just feel like Jeff with his legs gives us different variables in our offense that can help us as we move forward,” Muschamp said. “So, it will be Jeff's game to play. I told Jeff, ‘I don't want you looking over your shoulder, but you need to play well.'"

The announcement that Driskel will be the starting quarterback isn't shocking, especially considering the way that Muschamp used (or didn't use) Brissett on Saturday. 

But is the news comforting?

Judging from Driskel's average-at-best performance vs. Bowling Green, probably not.

But let's hold off on pressing the panic button just yet.

Driskel wasn't great against Bowling Green, but that was probably by design. 

Gator running back Mike Gillislee had control of the game, rushing 24 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns. That, coupled with the fact that Florida didn't want to get anything on tape for A&M to use, contributed to the vanilla Gator offense.

Florida struggled against the Falcons, no doubt. But it looked like it was content being conservative until it was absolutely necessary to mix it up.

Because of that, it's too soon to write Driskel off. 

New offensive coordinator Brent Pease has been around the block a time or two, and he knows that he's going to have to take the reins off the offense at some point. That point may be this weekend vs. the Aggies. 

Driskel was a highly recruited quarterback for a reason. The dual-threat signal-caller was the No. 13 overall player in the country in the Class of 2011 according to 247Sports.com. Before we write him off, let's see what he does as the starter vs. the big boys with the full offense at his disposal.

Follow @BarrettSallee