Luke Del Rio will serve as backup.
Jim McElwain told us that he would consider pulling the redshirt from a freshman quarterback for the Outback Bowl shortly after the SEC Championship Game.
That thinking didn’t last long as McElwain told press members in anticipation for the Outback Bowl that senior Austin Appleby would start and redshirt sophomore Luke Del Rio would serve as his back up.
Appleby and Del Rio have been wildly inconsistent as the starter this year, but four years of eligibility for both freshmen, Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask, proved to be too much for McElwain to burn a redshirt.
Florida has been in contact with former Baylor QB Jarrett Stidham as he nears a decision. Stidham transferred from Baylor in the wake of the scandal that saw head coach Art Briles fired.
It appears that Florida will head into next year with Del Rio, Franks, Trask, 2017 commit Jake Allen, and possibly Stidham (though Stidham appears to have Auburn as his leader).