Gator Football Holds Open Practice

The Florida Gator football team held an open practice at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday morning after playing their second team scrimmage of fall camp on Friday. For the first time since Florida’s spring game, fans were able to watch the Gators in action. Florida head coach Will Muschamp says the team did not show off all of its abilities on Saturday as he and the coaching staff did not want to give too much of their playbook away.

Undoubtedly the two players every fan had their eyes on the most were sophomore quarterbacks Jeff Driskel and Jacoby Brissett, both of whom are fighting for the Gators starting quarterback position. Both players took an equal amount of reps and played evenly throughout the morning’s practice. Coach Muschamp has not given any indication as to who will start the first game of the season, but he does say he likes both players’ toughness and intangibles, and that they have each earned the respect of their teammates.

Coach Muschamp also spoke about the battle for the starting cornerback positions. The battle is between juniors Cody Riggs and Jaylen Watkins and sophomores Loucheiz Purifoy and Marcus Roberson. Muschamp says he is confident in all four players and expects Florida to have a deep secondary this season.

Muschamp also liked what he saw from his running backs; he said senior Mike Gillislee has separated himself from the rest of the tailbacks, but other guys will get playing time at the position depending on several factors.

Coach Muschamp adds on Sunday he and the rest of the coaching staff will hold a meeting where they will discuss which players will be receiving more reps during the final two weeks of practice before the team’s season opener. The Gators will play their first regular season game on Saturday September 1st at 3:30 p.m. at The Swamp.

In other Gator football news, Florida was ranked 23rd in the first Associated Press poll that came out today. Five other SEC teams were ranked in the AP Top 25 including No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 LSU, No. 6 Georgia, No. 9 South Carolina, and No. 10 Arkansas.