Florida QB Anthony Richardson remembers terrible start against Georgia, lessons learned

ATHENS — Anthony Richardson has arguably the worst 2 1/2 minutes of football in Florida’s history in the Gators’ rivalry with Georgia.

“I was actually talking about this the other day, time flies,” said Richardson, who some believe will be the next April NFL Draft selection.

“My first match against Georgia felt like yesterday.”

Richardson will kick off his ninth career as Florida face off against the #1 Bulldogs at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

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The Alligators are a 22½-point underdog, but as Florida players learned last season, anything is possible when they don’t beat themselves up on mistakes.

• It was stopped at the 1:43 mark on the 36th of the Crocodiles in the second game of the next series, resulting in another Bulldogs touchdown.

• With 7 seconds remaining in the half, he made a 6 out of 47 pick and made the score 24-0, Georgia.

“I feel pretty good until the last few minutes of the first half,” Richardson said on Monday. Said.

Just a year ago in this competitive game, then-manager Dan Mullen was hailed as a genius by many national and Sunshine State media types.

Kyle Trask was appointed and appointed after the Gators hit 24 points and 267 yards over four runs in a 10 1/2-minute interval in the second quarter on their way to a 44-28 win.

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First-year coach Billy Napier calmly and peacefully controls the narrative in Gainesville.

“Before and after the game, I told the team this was a great game we played,” Napier told LSU in his keynote speech following the recent home loss.

“Playing and coaching the game is a blessing.”

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Richardson didn’t have that kind of peace and comfort with the quirky Mullen, who this week reflects on how uncomfortable he was before last year’s Georgia game.

“I’m not going to lie before the game, I was very nervous,” Richardson said.

“I had a lot on my mind. I was a little nervous. My first career start was against the #1 defense, so of course I thought a lot.”

These Bulldogs’ defenses are still among the best in the nation despite missing five first-round picks in the first round last year, along with the 2021 Butkus Trophy winner.

Richardson certainly knows that these Bulldogs are the last in the SEC and 124th in the nation in sacks (7).

The Missouri and Kent State programs put Georgia more than 20 points—something the Alligators have only done once in the teams’ last five meetings.

Smart seemed skeptical that Jalen Carter’s defensive tackle against Missouri, who was scheduled for a top 5 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, would be ready to bounce back from a sprained knee.

The Georgia head coach also expressed concern about this improved version of Richardson, which Napier said was building an offense around him.

“They provide the game plan and the skills to give him the option to run or pass,” Smart said. “What he’s really elite at is in draws, in runs, where he takes off.”

Richardson found a place for last year’s fiasco, acknowledging that “everyone is going to play a game like this once in a while.”

The alligators’ defense provided a valuable learning lesson that could come in handy on Saturday if Georgia could keep its offense a bit under control.

“Just processing and thinking about it taught me a lot about football itself and how to run and take control of the game,” Richardson said patiently answering many questions from Florida media associations about last year’s game.

“To manage everything, the emotions, the moment, the game itself, just to manage everything and let it come to you instead of trying to force everything.”

Napier believes in the quarterback and has patience in his growth, and is careful not to apply the same pressure that Richardson felt in his game against Georgia last year.

“I think he’s still working hard to master what that process looks like from Sunday to Saturday, an unwavering commitment to what it takes to play and win,” Napier said.

“So that’s where he is. It’s seven games and he just keeps getting better.”