All offseason, Florida’s QB battle was one of the primary topics of conversation among Gator fans. And as we wrote several times here at Hail Florida Hail, we will admit that we thought Tramell Jones had a much higher ceiling than Aaron Philo. Our concern was whether or not Philo was just a merchant who happened to know Buster Faulkner’s offense better than Jones.
But three games into the season, if we are being honest, Philo has done everything needed to run a successful offense, and on Saturday he passed a massive test that should instill confidence for everyone moving forward.
Aaron Philo shines once again in Florida’s win
Philo’s final stat line was 15 of 22 passing for 204 yards with a touchdown and an interception. And just like his interception against FAU, the one he “threw” on Saturday once again bounced off the hands of his intended target and into the arms of a defender.
So much was made coming into last night about the fact it was his first SEC road start and while Philo looked good against FAU and Campbell at home, how was he going to handle life on the road at Auburn?
Let’s just state it was Auburn taking a timeout to avoid a delay of game at home and not Florida.
Sumrall talked about the mentality that Philo has and why it suited him well to make his first road start:
"I thought he handled it really well, you know. He's got a little bit of, like, a cowboy mentality, man. Like, he's tough as nails. He don't talk a whole lot just to talk, he ain't that type of dude, but he ain't gonna back down or nothing. Like, I can tell watching him, just how he carries himself, I got a lot of confidence, and our team has a lot of confidence in him, just because that's the way he's wired. He's a tough, blue-collar, chip-on-your-shoulder type of guy."
What has been notable about Philo is that, for all the concerns about his arm strength, which were valid concerns based on the limited game film we had on him, his ADOT (Average Depth of Target) to this point has been 9.0 yards. Of QBs with at least 50 dropbacks to this point in the season, that’s still top half in the country. And by comparison, DJ Lagway had an ADOT of just 8.1 yards last year.
If Philo can continue his play like this, it’s honestly all Florida’s offense needs to continue to light up the scoreboard.
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