Antonio Gonzalez | Special to the Sentinel



GAINESVILLE -- Florida freshman quarterback Cameron Newton watches his errant pass sail over the head of the intended receiver, then braces for the punishment that follows.

The defense taunts him. The hundred or so spectators ridicule him. Then his coaches correct him.

Newton takes a moment to digest his mistake, shrugs it off and then takes the next snap. The blunder isn't the first this spring for Newton, who enrolled in January, and it won't be the last. It's just part of the process of becoming a successful college quarterback.

"It's a big difference and a big jump from high-school football," said Newton, a 6-foot-5, 242-pounder from Atlanta. "The biggest thing is the tempo. Everything is fast, fast, fast."

For every gaffe, though, Newton has had a highlight. And if he wants to see the field this season, he will have to show more of the latter.

Thus far, that hasn't happened.

"I don't think a lot of high-school guys, when they come in, understand how fast everything is going to happen and how fast things are going on the field," UF offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen said. "In high school, they're seeing two, three or four different defenses in a whole entire game. He saw six different blitzes in his first six plays out here.

"He's speaking a whole new language and learning a whole new system at a much faster speed."

The Gators want to be able to use a two-quarterback system as they did last season, when Chris Leak and Tim Tebow propelled them to a national championship. With Chris Leak gone, Florida is searching for a proficient backup for Tebow.

"We've always got to get a backup quarterback in the game," Mullen said. "It's an essential part of our scheme."

But the competition for the position cooled before it got hot. Junior-college transfer Bryan Waggener, who also enrolled in January, fractured his left foot during the first spring practice, sidelining him until the fall. Signee John Brantley doesn't enroll until the summer, which means Newton will get more repetitions, more practice and more responsibility.

"Cam Newton now is going to get 64,000 reps," Coach Urban Meyer said. "And he needs every one of those."

Newton is one of nine early enrollees for UF who are banking that the extra practice time transcends into playing time come August. Tebow enrolled early last year, and he said it was a big advantage in helping him adjust to college life, both on and off the field.

"Your head's just spinning the first couple [of] weeks of practice," he said. "You don't want to be going through that in the fall."

Newton is hopeful he can progress quickly this spring.

"Every quarterback's goal," Newton said, pausing for a moment, then whispering, "is to win the starting job."

See more at www.orlandosentinel.com