Gator QBs to battle for full-time position

The Florida coach said he will let junior Doug Johnson and sophomore Jesse Palmer fight it out for the full-time job in practice.

"Coach said he was sick and tired of this rotation thing and that next week we're going to go with one quarterback," said Palmer, who came in as the nation's seventh-rated passer.

The Gators (2-1 SEC, 4-1 overall) need to get it squared away before playing No. 11 LSU next week.

They had no problems moving the ball against the Crimson Tide (1-2, 2-2), racking up 467 yards on 81 plays. But the Gators' inept play inside the Alabama 20 netted just one touchdown against a defense that gave up 42 points to Arkansas and 31 to Brigham Young. It was Florida's lowest-scoring game since a 30-6 loss to Mississippi State in 1992.

Florida lost two fumbles and an interception inside the Tide 5-yard line and had to settle for three short Jeff Chandler field goals on its other drives inside Alabama's 12. The Gators have lost 12 fumbles this season.

"We tried to throw it in, and we couldn't throw it in," Spurrier said. "We tried to run it in, and we couldn't run it in.

"They don't play like the coaches want. They're a very undisciplined bunch. We're a very average football team right now."

Both quarterbacks had average days against Alabama, posting similar numbers. Johnson was 10-for-20 for 187 yards while Palmer was 10-for-19 for 169 yards.

The difference was Johnson lost a fumble at Alabama's two-yard line and threw an interception to Fernando Bryant in the end zone, breaking his string of 90 consecutive passes without a pickoff.

Palmer, meanwhile, threw a 32-yard touchdown to Travis McGriff, who caught nine passes for 213 yards.

The 213 yards was the second-best receiving performance in Florida history, behind Carlos Alvarez's 237 yards.

Johnson hit McGriff on a career-long 67-yard pass to set up a score on his first throw. He was in for 43 plays to Palmer's 38.

"Regardless of who's in there, we should be doing a better job," Palmer said.

The players will be happy to have the same guy leading the huddle from series to series and play to play.

"Sometimes we run our routes and when we get back in the huddle, we don't even know who the quarterback is," McGriff said.

10-07-98