Will Muschamp is either the smartest guy in the room or he just enjoys the thrill of taking a huge risk.

Either way, the Florida’s head football coach reiterated his unwavering support of his starting quarterback Jeff Driskel during today’s press conference.

“I don’t know if physically or mentally there’s any tougher kid that I’ve been around. He takes the heat and understands the territory [of being a starting quarterback at Florida],” Muschamp said. “[Jeff] is all about the right things, and I think again, will continue to move forward this season and he’ll make Gator Nation proud.”

“He’s their quarterback,” Muschamp added. “I know the majority are – that’s the frustrating part. That you’ve got to listen to negativity of a small few. But that’s part of it.”

Muschamp’s support comes after a sub-par performance from his redshirt junior quarterback. Driskel completed 9-of-28 passes for 93 yards, one touchdown and two interception. The offense was largely inept for most of the afternoon against Alabama.

“I’ve never been one where that stuff gets to me, whether its people saying you’re the best or people saying you’re the worst,” Driskel said about the criticism. “So you’ve just got to be even-keeled and keep moving forward,” he said. “But there’s a lot out there, so you can’t really shield yourself from all of it. I’m grown. I can handle it.”

As Driskel’s performance trends downward, the support for backup quarterback and true freshman Treon Harris to see more playing time and possibly start from here on out continues to grow. Harris has thrown just two passes on the season, but both went for touchdowns against Eastern Michigan in the waning moments of the Gators’ season-opener.

Harris “continues to improve” according to Muschamp, but not enough to share a good portion of the snaps with Driskel.

“Not at this time,” Muschamp said about the possibility of playing two quarterbacks. [Treon] is going to be a really good football player. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him and his abilities and what he presents to our football team. When that opportunity presents itself, he’ll have an opportunity. He gets some reps with [the first team in practice]. But for the most part we need to work on the timing with Jeff and his receivers.”

Driskel will face a tough challenge this weekend in Knoxville. The Tennessee Vols allow just under 200 passing yards per game and a hostile environment at Neyland Stadium will complicate things even more for the Gators’ offense. With fan base enthusiasm as high as its been in a while for Tennessee, you can bet the crowd will be eager to see their Vols take down the Gators for the first time since 2004.

While Muschamp’s support of Driskel certainly isn’t surprising, he definitely doesn’t shy away from being 1000 percent behind his quarterback. It’s an interesting tactic for Muschamp, especially since his coaching career his probably on the line.

His statements about Driskel making Gator Nation proud are bold since much of Gator Nation probably feels quite the contrary after a frustrating game in Tuscaloosa. It’s clear Muschamp is willing to risk his coaching career on Driskel, a quarterback he didn’t even recruit and the player he believes gives Florida “the best opportunity to win,” no matter what the fan base may think.

Everyone will find out soon if Muschamp’s faith in Driskel is well-founded, but either way, Driskel absolutely needs a strong performance this Saturday against Tennessee if he wants to silence the critics around him and possibly save Muschamp’s job.