Was Starting Anthony Richardson vs. UGA the Right Call for the Gators?

Photo: Anthony Richardson; Credit: Alex Shepherd

Dan Mullen made the move that Florida fans have been asking him to make for weeks on Saturday: The head coach rode with redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson as the Gators' starting quarterback against the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs.

Two weeks prior against the LSU Tigers - on the road, it should be noted - Richardson had seemingly earned the role. Richardson stepped in after starter and redshirt junior Emory Jones was benched as the Gators were losing 28-13 at the beginning of the third quarter, and he led UF on four consecutive touchdown drives, tying the game twice before the Tigers claimed a one-possession victory.

"Obviously we were playing against LSU, I thought [Richardson] had such a hot hand. Played really well in the second half of that game," Mullen explained after the Georgia game - which resulted in yet another loss for Florida. "Both our guys, we split reps evenly pretty much in practice. So both guys were really ready to play, and I kind of just kept sticking with where we were when we finished the last game, you know?"

The logic behind Mullen's decision certainly made sense, and it appeased the fan base that he had frustrated with two losses to unranked opponents in the Gators' previous three contests.

However, it didn't take long to realize - if you were watching the game on Saturday - that Richardson was making the first start of his career and it came against the best defense that college football has seen since Alabama's national championship run in 2011.

It wasn't an ideal situation at all.

With Richardson taking snaps, the Gators were able to muster 173 total yards on 45 plays through just over a half of football, equating to a miserable 3.8 yards per play. Richardson completed 12-of-20 passes for a measly 82 passing yards and two interceptions, while adding only 26 yards on 12 rushing attempts, committing a third turnover via fumble. His longest pass went for 18 yards, and only two completions surpassed ten yards.

Each of Richardson's turnovers came within a two-minute and 15 second stretch of football before halftime. The result: Georgia extended its lead from 3-0 to an insurmountable 24-0 in that span.

Florida only crossed the 50-yard line on two of Richardson's drives at quarterback and was gifted the ball at Georgia's 49-yard line on a third. Four plays later, Richardson suffered an injury after a hit to his head and neck area, per CBS Sports, and was pulled from the game.

"We’ll get it evaluated. I don’t have that, I’m not a doctor right now," said Mullen, asked for an update on Richardson's injury post-game. "I just got a quick update from the trainers that he was not going to return. I’ll get it with them at a later date.”

The injury wasn't something that Mullen or anyone could have predicted, but perhaps the performance could have been. This begs the question: Did Mullen make the right decision by starting Richardson over Jones in the Gators' toughest game of the season?

In my opinion, at the time the move became official and in hindsight, Richardson earned the start. Mullen's hand was forced by Richardson's performance two weeks before, paired with Jones' struggles with turnovers and the lack of ability to create big plays through the air. I felt that way and expressed it in my writing all the way up to kickoff.

But it is now far easier to understand why Mullen considered offering the starting gig back to Jones last week as well. Richardson was essentially thrown to the wolves against the Bulldogs, being asked to lead an underperforming team and accomplish an entire game plan against a defense that is allowing less than a touchdown (including the extra point) per game this year.

And the results speak for themselves: Richardson wasn't ready to lead the Gators to victory against the powerhouse that is Georgia. Certainly not in his first career start.

"We got a lot of things he still has to grow and develop on," Mullen said. "I think he has a great work ethic. He’s an extremely talented young man. I think he puts in the effort and puts in the time in learning the offense, learning the defenses, making reads and going through that.

"Obviously a tough situation and tough scenario when you’re playing a great defense like Georgia has, and give them credit for having some really good defensive guys. Overall, he did some things really well and made a couple of errors, as well. But that’s stuff we’ll coach him up and get him better at.”

While Jones has his limitations, he's a fourth-year member of Mullen's system and has proven that he can manage the offense for a full four quarters. It's very unlikely that the final result - a loss - would have changed with Jones under center instead of Richardson, but it's impossible to not wonder if the Bulldogs' margin of victory would have been smaller if that were the case.

The game was basically over when Jones took the field, but he offered the Gators something that Richardson could not on Saturday: A chance to put points on the board. Jones scored UF's lone touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter and Florida's offense gained 5.5 yards per play on average once he took over.

Starting Jones - although it's not enjoyable to view him as a sacrificial lamb - would have also prevented Richardson from any potential step backwards in his development that could have come from such a daunting task.

Richardson is undoubtedly the quarterback of the future for Florida. The near future, in fact, and now that the idiomatic ball is rolling, it would probably be in Florida's best interest to continue starting Richardson and deal with his growing pains in order to let him learn from mistakes and develop. The raw skills that Richardson possesses, particularly throwing power and physical-yet-speedy mobility as a big-bodied quarterback, are special.

But was he the quarterback Florida needed on Saturday, given the circumstances? Looking back on the loss, it's a fair question to ask and is certainly a tough one to answer.

Stay tuned to AllGators for continuous coverage of Florida Gators football, basketball and recruiting. Follow along on social media at @SI_AllGators on Twitter and Florida Gators on Sports Illustrated on Facebook.

Add us as a preferred source on Google