WATCH: Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson electrifies Swamp with run
Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson showed off his impressive playmaker ability on multiple occasions last night. On an electrifying run, the entirety of the Swamp was on their feet.
Whew. Richardson channeled his inner Saquon Barkley on the play, eluding defenders, breaking tackles and finishing it off with hurdling a defender.
All in all, the run was a microcosm of Richardson’s tremendous night. In the Gators’ 35-14 victory, the Florida quarterback ran for 160 yards on just seven carries, adding a 73-yard touchdown gallop.
Additionally, Richardson completed three of his eight pass attempts, accumulating 40 yards. On the other hand, starting quarterback Emory Jones had an uneven night, passing for 113 yards and a touchdown.
With Richardson electrifying while he’s on the field, Florida head coach Dan Mullen will be hard pressed to keep him off the field.
Dan Mullen downplays Florida quarterback controversy following Richardson’s big night
The opening night victory for Florida didn’t come without a fair share of controversy. As you can see, starter Emory Jones was outplayed by the redshirt freshman Anthony Richardson.
“I think the plan was to play both of them,” Mullen said after the game. “Anthony had that series in the first half and had a couple other series in the second half. I thought he did a good job.
“He missed a couple reads, but I thought it was good for him to get that experience as a starter for his first game out there. But both of them have the ability to make explosive plays and the nice thing is that I’m pretty confident with both the quarterbacks.”
While Jones was making his first-career start, Richardson’s performance left fans eager to see more. However, Mullen shot down any possibility that Richardson will take the starting job from Jones — at least, in the immediate future.
“Obviously, Emory is our starter as we get the experience, we roll the guys through,” Mullen said. “We did that tonight and it was good to see them both make some really explosive plays.”
Richardson showed his explosiveness in the Gators’ 14-point fourth quarter. Particularly, on Florida’s last scoring drive, when he ran for a 73-yard touchdown on a play-action fake.
“I think he’s going to be a great player.”
Mullen was impressed by Richardson’s play on Saturday, but he said that the redshirt freshman still has some growing to do before he can assume greater responsibility.
“He’s exciting with the ball in his hands, isn’t he? I think he’s going to be a great player,” Mullen said. “I think you saw that tonight, his athleticism, he’s a special guy with the ball in his hands. Anthony did some nice things, but you got to run the whole offense, and I think Anthony is really growing with situations. I think he will continue to grow with situations.”
Time will tell how much more of Anthony Richardson we see for Florida in 2021, but the cameras will be rolling whenever he’s on the field.
On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this article.