Dan Mullen's Five Most-Fun Wins at Florida Thus Far, No. 5 - Kentucky
One yard.
That's all quarterback Feleipe Franks needed. Florida was down 21-10 late in the third quarter against Kentucky in Lexington. The redshirt junior quarterback tucked the ball and began scrambling on fourth down with only one yard to gain.
He attempted to cut back but got caught from behind by UK defensive end Calvin Taylor Jr. while running into a pile. He didn't reach the first down. But even worse?
His season was over, and so was his time as Florida's quarterback.
He fell back on top of Taylor with his foot stuck beneath him and dislocated his ankle. While this injury was anything but fun, it was what happened afterward that made this an enjoyable night for Gator fans.
For Mullen, it appeared that for the second season in a row, while having a plethora of success in his first two seasons, would lose to a program that Florida historically never loses to. Just the season prior, in Mullen's first SEC game as UF's head coach, the Wildcats beat Gators 27-16 in The Swamp.
It was the Gators' first loss to Kentucky in 31 years, snapping the longest win streak over a specific opponent in college football. So, naturally, when Florida was down 21-10 and running out of time, the feeling was the same for Gator fans.
Kentucky again? Of all teams?
But a backup high school quarterback had something else in mind.
Fellow redshirt junior Kyle Trask came in, in place of Franks down 11 with just over a quarter to play. The Manvel (Tx.) native hadn't started a game at that point since junior varsity in high school, but he stepped up as if he had started for years.
The story of the last quarter - and some change - with the backup quarterback was unlikely. Around the time Trask came into the game, Kentucky's win probability was at 92.9 percent.
But, he completed nine of his 13 passes for 126 yards. It set up a La'Mical Perine touchdown, off of an option pitch from Trask to go along with a four-yard scramble touchdown from Trask as well.
About 15 minutes of game time after Kentucky's 92.9 percent win probability, Florida wide receiver Josh Hammond slammed the door on the Wildcats with a 76-yard touchdown off a jet sweep that put the Gators up 29-21, which ultimately was the final score.
But perhaps more important than Trask changing the narrative in Lexington, was him changing the narrative in Gainesville.
As weeks went on after that game and wins piled up, even with the knowledge that Franks would be healthy for 2020, it was obvious that Trask was now the guy. So obvious that Franks announced his intent to transfer later in the season, knowing he wouldn't win the job back.
Ironically, as opposite as he is to a prototypical Mullen QB, it just worked. As Mullen does, he squeezed every ounce of potential out of Trask to make him arguably the best quarterback in the SEC outside of Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa.
That night in Lexington birthed a new day of quarterback play in Gainesville, with production higher than Gator fans had seen since Tim Tebow was strapping up in orange and blue.
