Feleipe Franks and receiver Freddie Swain clasp hands following Franks' removal from Saturday's loss to Missouri. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Franks Struggles, Trask Enters, Questions Raised
Saturday, November 3, 2018 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- In the Gators' first home game since Tom Petty's hometown honored his life and music with a weekend full of celebrations, Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks' performance Saturday recalled the opening line of one of Petty's late-career hits.
Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks.
There was no bling on this day for Franks or the Gators on UF Homecoming.
Under the microscope following a shaky performance in UF's loss to Georgia seven days earlier, Franks finished 9 of 22 for 84 yards in a 38-17 loss to Missouri, which entered the game winless in the Southeastern Conference and losers of four of its last five games.
By the time the rout was over, Franks had his helmet off and watched from the sideline as backup quarterback Kyle Trask took over late in the third quarter and the Gators down by 25.
"We were behind and I wanted to try and do something different,'' Coach Dan Mullen said. "What we were doing wasn't working."
Franks' benching prompted instant speculation about his future as Florida's starting quarterback, only days after Mullen tried to swat away any doubts following the loss to Georgia by reiterating Franks was No. 1 despite the appearance of true freshman Emory Jones against the Bulldogs.
So, for the second week in a row, Mullen will face more questions about Franks' grip on the job at his Monday press conference.
Kyle Trask replaced starter Feleipe Franks on Saturday and led the Gators to a touchdown on his opening series. (Photo: Jay Metz/UAA Communications)
If Mullen's mind isn't changed after watching film on Sunday, Franks could very well be the starter Saturday when former Gators coach Will Muschamp and his Gamecocks visit Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
"The people in this building know what's going on,'' Mullen said. "Everybody is going to have some good days and some bad days."
Mullen pointed out several factors to what ailed Franks on Saturday. First, the protection was about as convincing as a mall cop. The running game struggled. The play-calling was subpar.
Mullen refused to play the blame game.
"There's a lot to go around," he said.
Adding to the Gators' sudden quarterback quandary is that Trask came in and lit a fire in the offense, leading a 13-play, 75-yard drive that cut the lead to 35-17 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.
Trask connected on his first three passes and was 5 of 8 for 59 yards on his opening series, capping the drive with a 7-yard scoring strike to Josh Hammond for his first career touchdown pass. Trask finished 10 of 18 for 126 yards in Florida's second consecutive loss following a five-game win streak.
Neither quarterback spoke to the media afterward as Mullen ran the huddle postgame.
The obvious question: what is his plan moving forward?
"Same as it's been all year,'' Mullen said. "We'll see. We weren't moving the ball very well. Feleipe missed a throw or two here. It's also getting hit and we've got a lot of guys open, and I'm looking and I'm like, 'what's going on?' And then all of a sudden the ball sails, and you want to go jump all on him and there he is with three guys being pulled off the top of him. You know, we'll see how they perform this week and if there's a drastic change, we'll make a change. And if not, we'll play with who's going to give us the best chance to win."
The Gators followed the standard quarterback-change game plan in the wake of the deflating loss, one that came before an announced crowd of 80,017 and was in stark contrast to the exciting win over then-No. 5 LSU four weeks earlier.
Mullen has a proved he has a winning touch with quarterbacks and each one must be handled with care, some in different ways than others. In the case of Franks, Mullen has been careful to pump the redshirt sophomore up instead of tearing him down.
He stayed on script Saturday, fully aware that those outside the building likely will take a harsher approach.
"We also put in Dameon Pierce on that drive," he said of the drive on which Trask entered the game. A freshman running back, Mullen said Pierce's insertion into the game doesn't mean Jordan Scarlett and Lamical Perine dropped down the depth chart.
Franks led the Gators on a 10-play, 75-yard drive right before halftime to trim Missouri's lead to 21-10. At that point, Mullen was more concerned on the team's lack of urgency than a quarterback change.
"It wasn't a halftime discussion at all,'' he said. "Feleipe handled [the benching] well. We're here to win the game. We weren't playing well to win the game, so let's try something different. It more that than to say, 'hey, we're making a change.' We wanted to hit some shots down the field, which we didn't."
Mullen said he never considered using Jones, who took five snaps against Georgia.
Instead, he gave Trask the most meaningful snaps of his career. Trask responded well after a solid week of practice.
"He came in, he led us on a touchdown drive, he completed his passes,'' senior tight end R.J. Raymond said. "That just goes down to his preparation. Both quarterbacks, him and Feleipe, are two of the most competitive people I've ever met. Once he gets his shot, I knew he was going to be great and do what he did. That's no shot to Feleipe at all. Feleipe was just struggling tonight. It is what it is. You've seen that with other people.
"The media and people out there on Twitter and everything are going to blame it all on Feleipe, but at the end of the day, it's all of us."
That was a large chunk of Mullen's message after the game. Franks didn't play well, but neither did anyone else.
Mullen's stance on Franks has always been that he gives the Gators the best chance to win. Franks is gifted physically and has one of the strongest arms in the country. Unfortunately for the Gators, several of his throws were off-target Saturday, renewing the Franks-Trask debate that was the major storyline of spring practice and preseason camp.
"It's always been a pretty tight decision,'' Mullen said.
That Petty song is titled "Walls."
The Gators ran into more than one Saturday. With three regular-season games left, everyone is now waiting to see if the Gators can climb over them or if they keep running into them. And who will be leading the the way.
