GAINESVILLE, Fla. –
Kyle Trask has never been
the guy. Not at Florida. Not at Manvel High in Texas.
Trask enrolled at Florida in the spring of 2016 and has yet to throw a college pass other than in the spring game. He played in high school, but was second on the depth chart behind dual-threat standout D'Eriq King, who signed with Houston and moved to receiver.
In his third spring camp with the Gators, Trask shined brightest among the UF quarterbacks in Friday's first scrimmage under first-year head coach
Dan Mullen. In unofficial stats compiled by longtime Gainesville Sun beat writer Robbie Andreu, Trask completed 12 of 18 passes for 182 yards, three touchdowns and an interception running the second-team offense.
Trask redshirted as a true freshman in 2016 and then missed 2017 when he suffered a broken foot in practice right before the season opener against Michigan. Trask underwent surgery to have a pin placed in the foot and watched as fellow freshman
Feleipe Franks won the starting job and veterans
Luke Del Rio and
Malik Zaire each took turns as the starter.
"It was tough knowing I had an opportunity, but stuff happens,'' Trask said following Friday's scrimmage. "Those older guys really took me under their wing and taught me a lot."
Trask is healthy and ready for another shot.
He took the most scrimmage reps of his career on Friday and for the most part appeared to pass the test, throwing touchdown passes to
Josh Hammond,
C'yontai Lewis and Trevon Grimes. Franks went 7 of 22 for 127 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions unofficially.
Trask's biggest mistake happened when he stared down a receiver and defensive back
Chauncey Gardner-Johnson picked off the pass. Otherwise, the 6-foot-5, 239-pound redshirt sophomore was pleased with the way he played.
"I feel like I did a good job. My goal was just to execute at a high level and I feel like I did a decent job of that,'' he said. "My focus now is to just take this and continue to try and develop myself because I still think I have a ways to go if I really want to be an elite quarterback."
Trask should not be overlooked in the quarterback battle despite much of the focus aimed at Franks and true freshman Emory Jones.
Mullen certainly isn't looking past him.
"He's got a live arm," Mullen said earlier this spring. "Throws the ball really well. He's got a lot of talent. Watching him, I think he's bought in to what we want to do. I tell them that the running aspect of the quarterback in our offense, I just want you to be a willing runner. If the defense gives you the opportunity to run, go run and go do it.
"He's shown a decent bit of athleticism to be able to run the ball as well."
The quarterbacks were not live in Friday's scrimmage, but Trask is athletic enough to run in Mullen's spread-option offense if needed.
Trask said Friday that the offense has some familiar terminology and read-option concepts to the spread offense he played in at Manvel. Though he was never the starter in high school, Trask threw for 1,545 yards and 16 touchdowns over his final two seasons without an interception.
He is not concerned about those who doubt his running ability.
"I'm confident in my running ability,'' he said. "Lower the shoulder and do what you need to do to get the yard."
Trask's first touchdown pass Friday was to Hammond, who took a short screen pass and raced 30 yards for the score. On the previous play, Trask made a nice throw across the middle that Hammond stretched out for to pick up a big gain. Trask's longest pass of the scrimmage was an 80-yard scoring throw to Grimes, who made a move off the line that caused freshman defensive back Trey Dean to slip. Grimes blew past Dean, caught the ball 20 yards downfield and raced untouched to the end zone.
Trask is trying to keep a level head as he tries to make his case for playing time this spring.
"I came out here with a mindset of just stay locked in and focused the whole time and just try to execute at a high level,'' he said. "I'm just doing what I can do. If they give me a shot, that's up to the coaches. Right now I'm just working as hard as I can just to get better every day."
Trask's approach isn't unnoticed by his teammates.
"
Kyle Trask has been working hard,'' center
T.J. McCoy said. "He's been really competing hard and studying hard and just really working his tail off. I'm proud of him and I just can't wait to see what he does in the next couple of weeks in our scrimmages and the spring game. He's a fighter. I believe he is a great leader, too. Every time we're in the huddle, he's like, 'come on guys, let's go get it right.' He's really encouraging. I think he's really confident in everything he is doing."
Slowed by injuries, first a knee injury that required surgery as a freshman and then the broken foot last fall, Trask is finally healthy and ready to prove what he can do.
Friday's performance was a solid one for Trask. One that he has waited on for a long time.
"It feels great. I've been hurt since really fall camp of last year, so I love being out there,'' he said. "Especially in the Swamp. This is fun. This is the good stuff."
