John Brantley Injury: Florida Gators Aren't Top-25 Team Without Veteran QB

Florida Gators senior quarterback John Brantley left the team's game against the Alabama Crimson Tide with what appeared to be a knee injury. The Gators were unable to generate offense without Brantley leading the way and if he's out for an extended period, Florida will quickly fall out of the AP Top 25.

It's been an uphill battle for Brantley since inheriting the starting job from Tim Tebow at the beginning of last season. Florida fans were spoiled by Tebow's awe-inspiring ability and there was no chance Brantley could ever live up to that standard.

With the dynamic duo of Chris Rainey and Jeff Demps making plays on offense, the Gators don't need a quarterback who can win the game by himself. They just need somebody who can avoid costly mistakes. QBs like that used to be called “game managers” before the term picked up a negative connotation.

Brantley had made strides toward filling that role during the offseason and raised his quarterback rating over 20 points since last season. So far in 2011, he has completed 65 percent of his passes and has an above average 9.2 yards-per-attempt ratio.

Jeff Driskel filled in after Brantley went down yesterday and wasn't too impressive. Granted it's impossible to judge a freshman quarterback against an Alabama defense with limited practice work.

That said, with a tough SEC schedule on the horizon, including next week's clash with No. 1 LSU, it's hard to imagine Driskel finding a comfort zone quick enough to save the season. Teams will pack the box even more than usual and force Driskel to beat them.

It's too much to ask for the freshman to do it on a regular basis.

Thanks to their 4-0 start and a game against Furman still left on the schedule, the Gators only have to win one more SEC game to become bowl eligible. An early-November game against Vanderbilt would seem likely place to pick up that victory, but it's no guarantee.

The speculation about Brantley's status remains just that. Nobody is sure when he'll return, but without him the Gators won't survive in the rankings for much longer.