Gators Pull Off a Throwback In More Ways Than One

Tight end Lucas Krull, after taking a handoff from quarterback Feleipe Franks, turns to toss a pass to Franks for a first down. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Gators Pull Off a Throwback In More Ways Than One

Sunday, October 7, 2018 | Football

By: Ethan Hughes, FloridaGators.com Intern

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In some ways, it was fitting that a play called "Throwback" led to the Gators' decisive points on Saturday night.

After all, the whole day had the feel of a throwback to a bygone era. Former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow was in town for his induction into the UF Football Ring of Honor, while the rest of his 2008 teammates celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their national championship. Tebow and fellow Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel delivered the pregame speech.

It was also the re-establishment of an old tradition – beating LSU at home. Since Tebow departed following the 2009 season, Florida had been just 1-3 in the Swamp against the Tigers.

UF head coach Dan Mullen dialed up his second trick play in as many weeks, and the No. 22 Gators (5-1, 3-1 SEC) defeated No. 5 LSU 27-19 before a sellout crowd of 90,283.

The Tigers (5-1, 2-1) had just taken the lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Nick Brossette. The score was set up by Brossette runs of 31 and 47 yards. But, the Gators answered right back, with redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks leading his squad to the Tigers' 17-yard line. That's when Mullen turned to a play his team had run successfully in practice but never used in a game.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Lucas Krull lined up wide to the right and went in motion. Franks took the snap and handed the ball to Krull. A left-handed pitcher at Arkansas prior to transferring to junior college last season, Krull briefly sold the run, then threw back across his body to an open Franks.

"I was hoping that somebody would run with me, and I could try to snatch it off somebody's head or something like that and get on SportsCenter," Franks said.

Feleipe Franks hauls in a 15-yard catch, the first of his career. Franks said it was the first reception he's ever had in a game at any level. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Instead, Franks made a fairly routine catch and scampered all the way down to the 2-yard line. Junior running back Lamical Perine punched it in on the next play to give UF a 20-19 lead.

Florida's defense intercepted LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who entered the day with no interceptions this season, twice to finish off the victory.

"I told Coach coming in, I said, 'Listen, you know, I played baseball. I can throw it a little bit,' " Krull said. "And, he was like, 'All right, we'll see what we can make out of that.' It was a play that we've been oiling up every week in practice, and like Coach say, 'It's oiled up. It's ready to go and in the game plan.' That's just the way we've been practicing it.

"With preparation comes success, and that's what happened. Every time we ran it in practice, it was a successful play. So, we knew in that game when that play would be called and got to be ready to go."

Krull said the plan was for the Gators to use the play earlier in the third quarter, but a Franks interception prevented that from happening. Instead, Mullen had to wait for the opportunity to present itself again.

"We wanted to make sure they were going to be in man coverage," Mullen said. "They were in man coverage on that play. Trying to get the situation to get the defensive look that you want to run that play. We were able to do it on that snap and get that into the look we wanted to be in."

One week earlier against Mississippi State, Mullen called "Kodak," a trick play named after a popular rapper. On that play, Franks threw a backward pass to sophomore receiver Kadarius Toney, who then threw a touchdown to redshirt senior tight end Moral Stephens.

The play on which Krull connected with Franks doesn't have a catchy name. Rather, it is simply called "Throwback."

"It's one we've had from a long time ago," Mullen said. "I wasn't smart enough to create cool names for plays until about four or five years ago. It's just that play we've had for a long time, and we've run it different ways.

"The tricky one is like John Hevesy, 'Let's put in a play called Sinatra.' I'm like, 'Nobody knows. That'd be good for you, but nobody on the field would know what the heck to do.' "

Krull said he heard from Tebow, a fellow lefty, after the game.

"He was actually my idol growing up, so I went up to him and was like, 'Hey, can we get a picture?' " he said. "And, he's like, 'Of course.' He said, 'Great throw, great team win.' It was always awesome to be able to talk with him."

Mullen's dug deep into his bag of tricks the past two weeks, and he might not be done yet.

"He's got every trick in the bag, and he knows when to call the right play at the right time," Krull said. "He's tremendous at what he does, and he's a great coach."

On Saturday, Tebow was back, a sellout crowd was back, UF's last national champion football team was back and the energy and hype were back. Oh, and UF recorded its first win over a top-5 opponent since defeating No. 3 Ole Miss in 2015.

What a throwback.