Redshirt freshman QB Feleipe Franks hugs tight end C'yontai Lewis in the aftermath of Saturday's miracle in the "Swamp." (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Miracles Are Nice ... now back to reality
Monday, September 18, 2017 | Football, Chris Harry
No. 20 Florida takes on Kentucky in a battle of SEC East unbeatens Saturday night in Lexington.
Then again?
"It's been crazy," Cleveland said early Monday afternoon.
Yes it has. Quarterback Feleipe Franks, for example, walked into his U.S. History class Monday morning. Normally, the professor hands a out a symbolic trophy to the student that asks the day's best question. Not on this day.
"He just gave me the trophy out of nowhere to start the class and told me, 'Good throw!' " Franks said. "That's kind of how the class started."
All because of how Saturday's game ended.
Unless you were sleeping off one mega-tailgate hangover, you know by now that Franks launched a 63-yard Space Shuttle-like miracle touchdown pass to Cleveland on the game's final play Saturday night to give Florida a dizzying 26-20 defeat of Southeastern Conference rival Tennessee. The play instantly became one of the all-time moments in the "Swamp" and was replayed and dissected by fans and TV talking heads into the night and well into Sunday, as well.
"Victories are hard to come by, [so] you celebrate them and learn from them, just like you do defeats," UF coach Jim McElwain said. "Were you in the stadium? Did you hear that place? Did you see the excitement of those people? I mean, man, that was college football, right there."
Indeed it was, and the Gators (1-1, 1-0) have oodles of more college football to play, starting with Saturday night's road date at unbeaten Kentucky (3-0, 1-0), a hungry opponent with a fan base equally starving for not just a signature win — one that would catapult the Wildcats into Eastern Division relevance in October for the first time in decades — but also to break the nation's longest run of dominance by one program over another.
The number is now at 30. That's how many consecutive seasons Florida has defeated Kentucky, a winning streak that not only is the longest active run in the country, but the fourth-longest in college football history. UK last defeated UF in 1986, winning an ugly 10-3 affair on a cold November afternoon in Lexington. Since then, there have been a bunch of UF blowouts versus a handful of close calls (all in Florida's favor, obviously) in a series that has been mostly devoid of buzz.
"I'll let you guys talk about it," McElwain said of the streak. "Every year it's different. You've got two different teams playing, so, right now, it's 0-0."
While the Gators look to ride the momentum of their miracle, the Wildcats are coming off a road win at South Carolina that was both impressive and businesslike. The Gamecocks were home and feeling confident after opening the season by beating a decent North Carolina State squad on a neutral site in Charlotte, N.C., then pounding SEC East foe Missouri on the road. A home date against Kentucky represented a chance to stake a claim as a player in the East, but the game also carried similar stakes for the Wildcats.
Mostly uncharted territory for UK football.
Now in its fifth season under Coach Mark Stoops, Kentucky was billed as being on the cusp of contender status after going 7-6 last season, beating Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson and Louisville in the regular-season finale but falling to Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl at Jacksonville, the program's first postseason appearance since 2010. The Cats opened 2017 by winning 24-17 at Southern Miss and following that with a 27-16 defeat of Eastern Kentucky at home. They didn't look particularly impressive in either.
Winning at South Carolina got the Gators' attention, however. Especially the way the Wildcats did it.
UK rushed for 219 yards, with tailback Benny Snell Jr. carrying 32 times for 102 yards and a couple touchdowns, plus dual-threat (and supremely confident) quarterback Stephen Johnson, the Grambling and junior-college transfer, rushing for another 74 yards, including a 54-yard third-down scramble late in the game to help seal the outcome. Johnson also completed 16 of 25 passes for 169 yards and was intercepted once. The Cats finished with 353 yards of total offense, converted nine of 16 third-down opportunities and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes.
"The main thing for us will be playing fast like we usually do," UF sophomore linebacker David Reese said.
And yet the Cats' strength may be their defense.
Through three weeks, UK leads the SEC in defending the run, allowing just 57 yards on the ground per game. That's unfortunate for the Gators, who remain last in the league in total offense (286 ypg) but did inch up to 12th in rushing (89.5 ypg) after gaining 168 yards against UT. Florida will need to build on that effort — and preferably amp up its ball security, after two fumbles by backs, including Malik Davis' cough-up at the 1 after a 72-yard dash — to give Franks, the redshirt freshman, the best chance to succeed in his first true road game.
"It's going to be tough for us," UF offensive tackle Jawaan Taylor said. "We're just going to have to work hard in practice and prepare for Kentucky's defense, which I know [is] a good defense. It's going to be a challenge for our offensive line."
A challenge for both sides, actually.
Winning streaks be damned.
"They're playing the way he wants it played," McElwain said, sending praise the way of Stoops, now 22-30, including 9-24 in conference play since arriving at UK in 2013. "Nobody's running the football on them. When you're not running it, that makes you one-dimensional. So I think that's a credit to what he and his staff have been able to do. They've done some really good things there as a program emphasizing football."
That began with a $126 million renovation of Kroger Field (formerly known as Commonwealth Stadium) that debuted in 2015, just in time for the Gators to come to town. The pregame run-up was electric, to be sure, as a sellout crowd of 61,000 showed up convinced it was the year the losing streak would end.
Florida won, barely, 14-9.
That was McElwain's first UF team and the quarterback was Will Grier. Whether this version is better than that one remains to be seen. Thus far, the Gators have shown to be a defensive-reliant bunch that needs the offense — and its young quarterback — to starting pulling its weight as far as staying on the field, protecting the ball, hitting explosive plays and scoring some points.
Preferably before the final clock has run out.
"You want to keep a level head, especially at the quarterback position. You never want to be too high or too low if things aren't going your way because that's part of the game," Franks said. "But definitely [coming] off a big win like that, we enjoyed it Saturday and Sunday and now it's back to [work] and we have to prepare for Kentucky."
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
OL
/ FootballInside Gators Football presented by UF Health 9-30-25
Tuesday, September 30
Play Breakdown presented by Tower Hill Insurance 9-30-25
Tuesday, September 30
Gator Insider presented by Talon Wealth 9-30-25
Tuesday, September 30
Rueben Chinyelu Media Availability 9-30-25
Tuesday, September 30
