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Florida football: Anthony Richardson has turned a corner

By Will Thomas

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 27: Anthony Richardson #15 of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 24-21 in a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 27, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA - NOVEMBER 27: Anthony Richardson #15 of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 24-21 in a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on November 27, 2021 in Gainesville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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As we enter the final 25% of the Florida football season, we need to take note of something going on amidst a 1-2 skid for the Gators.

Anthony Richardson has seriously turned a corner.

In the first half of the season, AR was inconsistent but showed flashes of what he can do. He had outstanding games against Utah and Tennessee but struggled against Kentucky and Missouri.

In the past few weeks, however, Richardson has flipped a switch and has become a juggernaut for opposing teams.

Despite the Gators being 1-2 in their last three, Richardson has produced 835 yards of total offense, been responsible for nine touchdowns, and hasn’t turned the ball over.

He hasn’t been doing this against any FCS or bottom-feeder teams either. He played well against an LSU team that just beat Alabama and had a good game against UGA who showed the nation they still have the best defense in the country yesterday against Tennessee.

His best game of the trio came yesterday in College Station, against an A&M defense who, while missing some key guys, was still the team that held Bama to 20.

It hasn’t just been the fact that he’s put up good numbers, but he’s also made huge plays when the Gators needed it the most.

Against LSU, down by 21 to start the 4th quarter, he tore off an 81-yard house call to turn the momentum and almost mount a Gator comeback. In Jacksonville, he dropped a beautiful dime to Xzavier Henderson up the sideline to pull UF within one score and keep the game interesting against UGA.

Against the Aggies, he had another explosive 60-yard TD run and a gorgeous pass to Fraziers in the endzone to start the Gators’ second-half run.

The biggest problem for UF this year is that they’ve been missing any real type of consistency on both sides of the ball. Richardson is starting to give the Gators consistency on offense, and if the defense can continue to play the way they did in the second half yesterday, the Gators could close out the season strong.

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