Maybe Jeff Driskel's commanding lead in the race to be John Brantley's backup, one that dates back to spring practice, wasn't that big. Maybe Driskel's injured ankle, sprained against LSU, hasn't fully healed or got re-aggravated in practice. Either way, reports are flying that Driskel won't start against LSU, while Jacoby Brissett will start for Florida in Tiger Stadium.
The Florida Gators have decided to start Jacoby Brissett in Saturday's game against LSU, sources close to the Gators told Local 6's David Pingalore.
Pingalore's sort of a hit-and-miss reporter: He was right and first on Tim Tebow playing against LSU two years ago, but also threw out a story about Urban Meyer having a heart attack after the 2009 SEC Championship Game that never got substantiated. The word for "Ping," whose Twitter feed is a great lesson in how not to spam your reporting out to the public, is shrewd. But shrewd does not necessarily mean wrong, and Pingalore citing sources instead of a source is interesting.
Pingalore's not a lone wolf here, either.
Randy Rosetta, Fox Sports/Scout's LSU beat writer, was tweeting similar things about Driskel and Brissett late Friday night.
Couple of sources I trust telling me that Florida QB Jeff Driskel's ankle may be too tender to play against #LSU Saturday.
If Driskel -- the backup to starter John Brantley -- can't go, Gators would turn to another freshman, Jacoby Brissett, against #LSU.
I'd tend to trust Rosetta over Pingalore — he did good reporting on the bar fight involving Jordan Jefferson this summer — but, more importantly, Rosetta citing sources rather than a source makes it sound like there are at least four people saying that Brissett will start over Driskel. Unless, of course, you believe that an Orlando TV station's sports reporter and an LSU beat writer have the same sources.
There were whispers this week that Brissett was climbing the depth chart, and I had heard a whisper that Brissett might start, but there's obviously been no official word from Will Muschamp or Charlie Weis on what quarterback would start in Brantley's place. I regret this headline, because Driskel being the "starter" in practice is different from being named the starter for a game, but it's clear that Muschamp/Weis have, at least, successfully smokescreened a lot of folks. Hopefully, LSU is among that group.
We'll have more analysis of the possibility that Brissett will start in about an hour.