Gators' Trask, Pitts Named to Sporting News All-America Team

While the No. 7 Florida Gators get set to take on the No. 6 Oklahoma Sooners in the New Year's Six Cotton Bowl game, Florida continues to receive plenty of individual accolades, particularly its star quarterback, Kyle Trask and tight end Kyle Pitts. Both players have been named to the Sporting News All-America team.

Trask, a redshirt senior, was named to the second team for Sporting News, and has been named a second-team quarterback for multiple lists this season. While some players on Florida's team may take offense to Trask being named second-team, the Gators are represented on the list for the first time since 2017 (Johnny Townsend, second team).

A Heisman finalist, Trask exploded onto the scene this season in the SEC's 10-game, conference-only schedule, posting the best numbers among all quarterbacks in the country. On the year, Trask threw for 4,125 yards and 43 touchdowns. He added three touchdowns on the ground to account for 46 total touchdowns on the year, the most in the FBS.

"Trask’s three touchdown passes against Alabama in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game made him the ninth player in FBS history to throw at least 43 touchdown passes through the first 11 games of a season," the University of Florida stated in a release today. "Of those nine, Trask is one of three to accomplish the feat with fewer than 50 attempts per game.

"The redshirt-senior is one of 29 FBS quarterbacks since 1996 to log five 400-yard passing games in a season and is the only SEC quarterback to accomplish the feat within that span."

Pitts, a true junior, will likely go down as one of the best tight ends to ever play college football when it's all said and done. He becomes the first Florida player since 2015 (cornerback Vernon Hargreaves) to make the Sporting News All-America Team as a first-team player.

A shoo-in for the annual John Mackey Award, given to the nation's top tight end, Pitts accounted for 43 receptions, 770 yards and 12 touchdowns on the year while playing in just seven-and-a-half games.

"The junior is the first tight end in Gators history and the eighth FBS tight end in the last five years (including 2020) with three games of 100-plus receiving yards in the same season."

The Gators are set to take on the Sooners tomorrow with Trask leading the offense for perhaps the final time in his career as he looks towards the NFL, though, he has not yet made a decision publically. Pitts on the other hand looks to take his talents to the NFL, opting out of the Cotton Bowl and into the 2021 NFL Draft.

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