Where Florida's Quarterback Battle Stands After Gators' Spring Game

GAINESVILLE, Fla.— Jon Sumrall made it clear at the beginning of the Florida Gators’ spring camp that the quarterback battle between Aaron Philo and Tramell Jones Jr. would likely go into fall camp.

After Saturday’s spring game, he reiterated that sentiment, saying that while “both guys have done some good things,” “nothing’s decided yet.”

“I'll sit down with all those guys on Monday and have a really transparent conversation about, ‘Hey, after 15 practices, this is where we are,’” he said. “I'll talk to them about, ‘Hey, if we had to play a game next week, this is probably what it would look like.’ I won't make an announcement because we don't play here next week. But I wanted them to know kind of after we wrap.”

Philo, a transfer from Georgia Tech, and Jones Jr., last year’s backup, both had highs and lows in the spring game.

Philo went 21-for-28 for 193 yards and two touchdowns but had two of Florida’s three interceptions on the day. He had a 31-yard score to Vernell Brown III and a 23-yard touchdown to Micah Mays Jr., but interceptions to DJ Coleman and Cam Dooley in the first half were low-lights.

“Everything's not going to go the way that you want it to go,” Philo said. “So you have to be resilient. You have to be able to bounce back when things go bad and I think it's a great trait of a quarterback.”

Florida quarterback Aaron Philo had two touchdowns and two interceptions during the Orange and Blue game. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jones Jr., meanwhile, went 13-for-17 for 210 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, throwing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Eric Singleton Jr. and a 75-yard touchdown pass to Mays Jr.

“I started slow, bounced back. I think sustaining drives was a big thing for me, being able to put guys in good situations, get athletes the ball,” he said. “So, I think just being able to do that, I think I did pretty good today.”

The battle between Philo and Jones Jr. has been constantly described as a neck-and-neck battle, with both having their own individual strengths and weakness.

Philo, despite his relative inexperience, spent two years in offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner’s system at Georgia Tech and has familiarity with multiple new-comers on the offense. However, quarterbacks coach Joe Craddock emphasized on Thursday that Philo is a “bit of a gunslinger” who needs to be smarter with the football.

Jones Jr., despite having less experience than Philo, has been praised for his ability to learn the offense quickly and for his familiarity with the returning players. Still, Craddock said he “loses receivers a little bit over the middle” and that his footwork in the pocket needs improvement.

“I was impressed with both of them,” Faulkner said on Saturday. “They both came in, did a really good job. Like I said, it's a body of work of everything that we've done the last 15 days.

“Today was just a small sample size of what I think both of them could be.”

Florida quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. (9) had two touchdown passes in the spring game. | Alan Youngblood/Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

While both have earned considerable praise throughout camp and on Saturday, and despite some of their struggles as they compete, Sumrall has continued to emphasize how open the battle is.
It also doesn’t help the decision-making process when the Gators are constantly shuffling its offensive line and looking to establish its rotation at receiver, tight end and running back.

“I think too often, the storyline is always the quarterback, the quarterback, the quarterback. I'm like, Well, I'm pretty damn worried about who the right tackle is and who the left tackle is who,” Sumrall said. “So those decisions are as important, to be quite honest with you, because they're protecting the quarterback."

Now, Florida enters the longest part of the offseason, with more questions about its quarterbacks answered but without the main question on who will start still unanswered. While it remains to be seen when that question will be answered, both Philo and Jones Jr. are seemingly embracing the extended competition period.

“Whoever at the end of the day gets to go out there, they're going to compete at the highest level, because we've been pushing each other, we've been put in great situations, we’ve been putting each other in difficult situations,” Jones Jr. said. “So being able to get that extra time and get better and really push ourselves to what we can be, I think that can really help everyone.”