Trask For Heisman? Odds Say Yes, Florida Gators Focused Elsewhere

Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask leads the nation in touchdown passes, with 28 in six games. Two signal-callers, UNC's Sam Howell and UCF's Dillon Gabriel, are tied for second with 23, both of which have played at least seven games.

Trask also ranks ninth in the country in passing yards, with 2,171, ninth in yards per attempt (10.3), and tied for seventh in completion percentage (70.1%) among quarterbacks with 100 or more passing attempts. He's thrown just three interceptions and taken just six sacks on the season.

You would be hard-pressed to find any quarterback in college football playing as efficiently as Trask this season, and Vegas appears to agree. OddsShark named Trask the betting favorite to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy with odds set at +175 (7/4), following his week eleven performance.

Breaking:

Kyle Trask is the new betting favorite to win the 2020 Heisman Trophy.

Updated odds (BetOnline):

Kyle Trask +175
Mac Jones +200
Justin Fields +275
Trevor Lawrence +325
Zach Wilson +2800
Kellen Mond +6600
— Odds Shark (@OddsShark) November 16, 2020

Head coach Dan Mullen was asked after Saturday's win over Arkansas if he believed Trask was the frontrunner for the most prestigious award in college football. Of course, Trask was fresh off of a 356-yard, six-touchdown performance against the Razorbacks at the time.

“I don’t know if he’s the frontrunner. I don’t get to vote, so," said Mullen rather bleakly. He followed with praise of his own for the fifth-year senior, however.

"I think this, we’ve been around this before," Mullen continued. "I think he’s a mature kid, the numbers stand. What he’s got to do is prepare for Vanderbilt and get ready to have a great game next week. And anything beyond that is kind of a colossal waste of time right now."

Coach-speak, of course. Mullen and UF can make a campaign for Trask, and perhaps it would be in their best interest to do so as there are several qualified quarterbacks in contention for the Heisman race this year.

But right now, Mullen is focused on getting his team to Atlanta for the SEC Championship, and beyond. Individual awards can (and probably will) come later, and Trask agrees.

"I really don’t think about that," Trask said, asked amount the number of touchdowns he's thrown this year. "I just think about the next play and the next opponent because my main goal and my team’s goal is to win every game we play in. If we’re executing on offense that gives us the best chance to win the game."

Trask even set a major SEC record against Arkansas, surpassing former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa for the most touchdown passes through six games, which now stands at 28. Trask said after the game, however, that "stats are cool, but we’re here to win games... That’s all I’m focused on," in reaction to setting such a record.

Trask set a UF record for the most consecutive games with four or more touchdown passes, with four, against Missouri and has now extended that streak to six games. There isn't an opponent in sight on UF's regular-season schedule that should frighten anyone about that streak coming to an end.

With that, you can realistically expect Trask to receive an invitation to the 2020 Heisman Trophy virtual ceremony on Jan. 5. Just, don't expect much thought on that from the man himself, or his head coach, until that time comes.

"If you want to be involved in those awards – I think that the more success teams have sometimes, the more individual awards come," said Mullen. "So I think, if we keep being successful as a team, keep making plays, he’s going to have the opportunity to get individual awards."

Florida is set to face Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., this Saturday at 12 P.M.