ATLANTA, GEORGIA | With its 54-16 loss to No. 1 Alabama now in the book, No. 15 Florida faces a difficult decision, specifically at the quarterback position: Should they stick with graduate transfer Austin Appleby for one more game, or turn to the future with freshmen Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask?

Burning a redshirt for just one game of bowl action may be a tough thing for a program to swallow, but putting the future on display could inject some much-needed optimism into the fan base (and on the recruiting trail) about the state of the offense – and it would give one of the two freshmen some valuable experience against a quality opponent.

Fifteen bowl practices working with the 1’s could mean a ton for one of the two signal-callers – especially with a matchup in Dallas with Michigan at the start of next year’s slate. Getting acquainted with live action at the college level before a matchup next year with a team like the Wolverines would certainly be helpful.

After all, Florida’s quarterback play in the past two games with Appleby has been shaky. The Purdue graduate transfer tossed three interceptions against the Alabama defense Saturday, leading the Crimson Tide to 17 points off of turnovers.

Following Saturday’s result, McElwain admitted that he hasn’t ruled out the idea of playing one of the two true freshmen quarterbacks.