Looking Back to '03: Predicting the Success of Tyler Murphy

When Jeff Driskel was knocked out of the game due to injury with 10:05 left in the first quarter against Tennessee I figured the season had gone up in smoke. Sure, the defense and special teams might be overwhelming enough to eek out a win versus the Vols, but beyond that the prospects weren't going to be good. Turns out I was wrong. Not only did Tyler Murphy fill in admirably for the injured Driskel, he also provided hope that this season isn't entirely lost.

To be fair, Murphy didn't look great at first, and without the defense forcing back-to-back turnovers I'm not sure how the game plays out. However, that's exactly what this team was built to do. Play suffocating defense, run the ball, control the clock and not turn it over. When the offense needed extra snaps to calm everything down the defense pulled through. By halftime, Murphy had made the most of those snaps en route to a 17-7 lead for the Gators. At that point I felt like Murphy was running a very Chris Leak-esque offense, and based on how the team has struggled to move the ball at times in recent years, that isn't a bad thing.

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