Treon Harris’ regression since the Gators’ visit to Death Valley is stunning
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For Florida fans, facing Alabama on this stage carried a bit of nostalgia for a quarterback they used to have.
And no, I don’t mean for Tim Tebow, although the man immortalized in bronze outside of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium who also serves as an SEC Network analyst could be found everywhere giving his opinion on the SEC Championship Game.
And not for Danny Wuerffel or Shane Matthews or Terry Dean.
The orange and blue faithful were aching for him.
For Treon Harris.
Not the Harris they saw in the last six games, but rather the one who threw for 271 yards with 2 TDs and no interceptions at Death Valley in his first start after taking over for Will Grier.
The one who, despite the 35-28 loss, gave the Gators all the optimism in the world that he could lead the school to its first SEC East title since 2009 while growing into a solid starting quarterback.
The sophomore did lead the Gators to Atlanta, but while shrinking into a limited quarterback.
The following week, a single toss against Georgia gave him a pass in an otherwise poor performance as the Gators romped the Bulldogs 27-3. His impressive 66-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Callaway while scrambling showed potential and left reason to believe that going 7-for-18 for 89 yards for the rest of the game was a fluke.
Even if it wasn’t, November was coming and it would seemingly bring a cool breeze with games against Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Florida Atlantic before a tough finish against Florida State and the SEC West champ.
Instead, it brought back the ice age that the Florida offense was living in for most of the Will Muschamp era.
In the six games since that loss to LSU, Harris has only completed 48.4 percent of his passes for an average of 165 yards per game, 5 TDs and 5 INTs.
During that stretch, Florida’s offensive unit has contributed 11 points per game. It had gone eight straight regulation quarters without reaching the end zone before Harris’ 46-yard desperation heave for a TD in the fourth quarter against Alabama.
Meanwhile, Harris has shown a lack of pocket presence, routinely holding onto the ball too long and taking unnecessary sacks. Alabama’s fearsome front seven took advantage of that with 5 sacks.
Harris finished by going 9-for-24 — a season-low 37.5 completion percentage — with 165 yards, a touchdown and an interception against Alabama.
Jim McElwain continued to show unwavering support for Harris after the game, saying that he was the team’s quarterback going forward despite the offense going backward.
His vote of confidence is all that’s holding Harris up at this point as the rest of Gator Nation’s criticism has toppled whatever supporting structure it once had for him.
Fans in Gainesville can only look forward to one of its touted QB recruits in Feleipe Franks or Jacob Eason, and whether one of them can finally give Florida its quarterback of the future with Grier not slated to return until mid-October of next season.
In the end, Harris’ performance at Baton Rouge was a cruel mirage, one that gave false hope that he could guide a solid offense to Atlanta to accompany a championship-caliber defense, which proved itself to be anything but a mirage.
Instead, the Gators defense showed up on an island. And the Harris they thought they had was lost in Death Valley.
Born and raised in Gainesville, Talal joined SDS in 2015 after spending 2 years in Bristol as an ESPN researcher. Previously, Talal worked at The Gainesville Sun.
