Florida Football: Jack Miller has a chance for his one shining moment

Since its last game ended, there has been no shortage of news for the Florida Gators. We’ve had a third of the team enter the transfer portal, Jalen Kitna got arrested and kicked off the team, Anthony Richardson declared for the NFL draft, Billy Napier is trying to figure out who to grab out of the transfer portal and five-star QB DJ Lagway announced he would become a member of Florida football in 2024.

Lost in the shuffle is that the Gators are playing in the Las Vegas Bowl in eight days. With Richardson and Kitna gone, Jack Miller has been tabbed as the starter. In reality, this will be Miller’s lone start as a Gator. But, in the world of college football, this could also be the start of a hidden gem going into 2023.

Florida Football: It’s Miller Time

If you aren’t familiar with the backstory of Miller, he’s a former four-star prospect out of Arizona that signed with Ohio State in 2020. After being beaten out by both Justin Fields and CJ Stroud, Miller opted to transfer to Florida.

His debut at the Spring Game left a lot to be desired and one of the real fears coming into 2022 was what would happen in Richardson went down with an injury. Miller wound up breaking his thumb in training camp and Kitna served as the backup for the entire season.

With Florida looking to pick up a QB in the transfer portal and with Jaden Rashada arriving next season, it is unlikely that Miller will be playing much next season. But you know who played in a meaningless bowl game and flashed just enough to make people want to see more?

Anthony Richardson.

Lost in Florida’s blowout loss to Oklahoma in the 2020 Cotton Bowl was Richardson taking the helm for the final drive. While most people, myself included, had turned the game off by the fourth quarter, those that were paying attention noted that Richardson flashed in his lone drive of the game. He capped off his drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Pouncey and it set the stage for his next two years in Gainesville.

While the end result of the Las Vegas Bowl won’t matter for Florida football, the performance of Jack Miller will. If Miller has a lights out performance, it can elevate him into the conversation for starting QB heading into next season. Doesn’t mean he will be the starter, but it gives him a slimmer of a chance heading into camp.

A dud performance will leave Miller relegated to third string QB next season as we will debate when will Rashada be ready.

So good luck Miller. As Eminem once said, “If you only had one shot…”