In about five months, Florida opens the 2017 campaign at AT&T Stadium in Arlington against Big Ten power Michigan.

As a result, Florida’s Orange and Blue Debut on Friday at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was a relatively bland affair. Third-year coach Jim McElwain went so far as to say that he doesn’t want to put too much on tape for the Wolverines.

Even in the middle of a highly publicized quarterback battle between Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask — incumbent starter Luke Del Rio was sidelined for spring practice following shoulder surgery — McElwain didn’t crack open the playbook too wide. After a year in the system, Franks and Trask were still only asked to run the basics.

You might think that it would behoove McElwain to throw as much at his two young signal callers as possible and see how they respond.

Nevertheless, the Gators played their cards rather close to their collective chest in an effort to keep UM coach Jim Harbaugh guessing ahead of September’s showdown. Heaven forbid he recognizes one particular formation on film.

Despite the fact that spring games represent the closest thing to an actual game-day environment — more so than any practice or scrimmage during fall camp — coaches from every corner of the SEC are becoming increasingly paranoid about potentially broadcasting secrets. Every play call or personnel package is a DEFCON 1 situation.

Unfortunately, that means spring games are more dull by the year. Our first look at actual football in months is hardly worth our attention now.

Not to mention that SEC Network is condensing them into two-hour shows that necessitate running clocks with minimal stoppages. Franks and Trask threw a total of 29 passes between them. I thought they’d get 30 or so attempts each.

The four spring games played Saturday across the conference weren’t much different. The announcers in the booth at Ole Miss, Texas A&M, Auburn and Mississippi State all used the word “vanilla” — the most common term to describe a dumbed-down offense — at some point on the air. Excitement was hard to come by most of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, at Purdue, the Boilermakers called a designed fake flea-flicker that went for a big gain and likely thrilled those in attendance.

First-year coach Jeff Brohm was probably going out of his way to generate some genuine buzz in West Lafayette, as there hasn’t been much to cheer at that program lately. It would be a shock if he ran the same play in an actual game, though.

Does anybody really think Brohm pulling out a gadget call in the spring game will be the difference between victory and defeat when Purdue faces in-state rival Indiana — go ahead, SEC fans, laugh at the Big Ten’s version of Rivalry Weekend — come November? Of course not. This is football, not the G6 summit.

Such is the way of the pigskin world, though. Reporters are shamed if they have the audacity to ask coaches about injuries, too.

Coach, can you give us an update on Player X’s injury?

“He’s getting better.”

So how long do you expect him to be out of the lineup?

“I’m not a doctor.”

But his femur broke clear through the skin, coach.

“We’re not ruling him out for Saturday.”

I guess this is why most teams can’t fill their stadiums for spring games, free admission or not: There’s nothing to see anyway.

John Crist is the senior writer for Saturday Down South, a member of the FWAA and a voter for the Heisman Trophy. Send him an e-mail, like him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.