In some ways, when Florida takes the field for its annual spring game on Thursday this one will feel like one of the most important in a long time for the Gators.
Which says something about spring games, but that’s another story.
Florida fans with a little bit of history remember the one in Jacksonville in 1990 that paved the way for Shane Matthews to be Steve Spurrier’s first starter.
That was a big one. Tim Tebow’s first spring game as a starter in 2007 resulted in a huge crowd (47,500 estimated) and we saw a glimpse (three TD passes) of a Heisman season to come.
This one feels different than most spring games because it is different. In the first place, Florida fans have been deprived of spring games for the last two years because of the pandemic.
In the second place, it’s a Thursday night, a move made by Billy Napier to hopefully enhance recruiting.
And thirdly, this is our first look at Billy Ball.
So, it does feel important. Just don’t get carried away. Here are five things that really matter about this spring game.
1
AR Accuracy
AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack
One spring game that always stayed with me was the one in 2008 when Cam Newton was dreadful. After the game, Newton was despondent after completing only 6 of 18 passes.
Of course, he wasn’t going to win the job with the Heisman winner on the Orange team. But we saw that Newton had a long way to go.
Now, we have a situation where Anthony Richardson has a chance to be the starter, but we’d like to see a quarterback who can get the ball with timing to his receivers. A lack of precision timing is what doomed Emory Jones and Richardson had a worse completion percentage in his limited time last season.
The base wants Richardson to be the quarterback because they have seen him at his best. But they also know what his worst looks like. On Thursday, they would like to see him look like a poised quarterback who runs the offense and doesn’t throw balls up for…
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