Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The curious case of Kyle Trask and his unlikely football journey added another footnote in Florida's victory over Vanderbilt.

In his most prolific outing since taking over for injured starter Feleipe Franks, Trask completed a career-high 25 passes and threw for a career-best 363 yards. In an era of historic offensive production across the college game, the Gators have picked up the pace under head coach Dan Mullen. Trask's performance Saturday offered further proof considering it was the most passing yards by a UF quarterback since Tim Tebow 10 seasons ago.

As soon as Trask eclipsed the 329-yard performance of John Brantley in 2011 against Furman – which had stood as the top mark since Tebow's school-record 482 yards in the Sugar Bowl to cap his senior season – reporters in the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium press box began to make note of the milestone on Twitter.

If anyone is looking for a #TBT trivia question, here's one: Which Gators quarterback threw for the most yards in a single game? A) Chris Leak, B) Steve Spurrier, C) Kyle Trask, D) Shane Matthews.

I would have gone with A or D before writing this. But I would have been wrong. The correct answer is C.

With the No. 11-ranked Gators (8-2, 5-2) set to close out the Southeastern Conference portion of their schedule with a road date at Missouri (5-4, 2-3) on Saturday, another notable Trask performance has been part of the storyline.

In last season's 38-17 loss to Missouri, Trask replaced Franks and sparked the offense by going 10 of 18 for 126 yards with a touchdown and interception. If nothing else, Trask appeared to have a shot to start the following week with a strong week of practice.

Instead, he suffered a broken foot a few days later and Franks returned to lead the Gators to a fast finish with four consecutive wins and a No. 7 ranking in the final AP Top 25 poll.

"That was a big time in my career,'' Trask said this week. "I felt like that was the first time I got real meaningful snaps, and obviously it was tough to be competing to play and then get hurt. I think it's made me stronger as a person over time, though."

Hard to disagree with that point based on what Trask has done in nine games this season.

A redshirt junior who had not started a game since he was on the freshman team at Manvel (Texas) High, Trask has completed 160 of 239 passes (66.9 percent) for 2,011 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. His 363-yard passing game against the Commodores ranks 20th in school history and with a pair of 300-yard games this season, he is only the 12th quarterback in school history to have at least two career 300-yard passing games.

For more on Trask's outburst, check out chart below: CHARTING THE GATORS
 
A look at the 9 quarterbacks in school history who have thrown for at least 363 yards in a game, which Kyle Trask did in last week's win over Vanderbilt:
 

PLAYER	GAMES	MOST YDS	NOTABLE
Danny Wuerffel	7	462	Finished 23 of 39, 4 TDs in No. 1 UF's 42-7 win at Arkansas
Rex Grossman	6	464	Connected on 22 of 32, 5 TDs in 44-15 win at LSU to set record by visiting QB
Tim Tebow	1	482	Completed 31 of 35, 5 TDs in Sugar Bowl romp over Cincinnati
Doug Johnson	1	460	In 45-13 win at Vanderbilt, hit 24 of 39, 4 TDs
Eric Kresser	1	458	Threw for 6 TDs in 58-20 win over N. Illinois
Terry Dean	1	448	Hit 26 of 38, 6 TDs in 61-14 win over SW Louisiana
Kerwin Bell	1	408	In 24-3 loss to Georgia, finished 33 of 49, 0 TDs
John Reaves	1	369	Lost 38-12 at Auburn; 33 of 66, 2 TDs, NCAA-record 9 INTs
Kyle Trask	1	363	Completed 25 of 37, 3 TDs, 2 INTs in 56-0 win over Vanderbilt

NEWS, NOTES, NUGGETS
 

• The Gators rank 25th nationally in passing offense at 288.5 yards per game. Since the start of the 2010 season, UF's highest national finish in passing offense in 79th in 2016.
• Missouri leads the overall series 5-3, including a 4-3 record since joining the SEC in 2012. The Tigers have won two of three meetings at home. Florida's only road win at Missouri was 21-3 in 2015.
• The Tigers have won the last two meetings by a combined score of 83-33, including a 45-16 win at Memorial Stadium in 2017, the first game following the departure of former head coach Jim McElwain.
• Missouri quarterback Kelly Bryant, who did not play in last week's 27-0 loss at Georgia, is close to 100 percent and expected to play according to head coach Barry Odom. A graduate transfer from Clemson, Bryant 1,845 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• UF head coach Dan Mullen reiterated Wednesday he remains hopeful defensive end Jabari Zuniga (ankle) and linebacker Amari Burney (knee) will be able to play Saturday. Both missed the Vanderbilt game.
• Missouri will be playing at home for the first time in 35 days, since a 38-27 homecoming win over Ole Miss on Oct. 12. The Tigers have lost three in a row, but at home, they are 5-0 and averaging 40.4 points while limiting opponents to 11.6.
• Gators safety Donovan Stiner had two interceptions against Vanderbilt and now has four on the season, which is tied for the lead in the SEC.
• Florida's blanked Vanderbilt for its third shutout of the season, the program's most in a season since 1988. The Gators are ranked ninth nationally in scoring defense (15.0 points per game).
• Redshirt freshman quarterback Emory Jones is now tied with running back Lamical Perine for the team lead in rushing touchdowns (four) after his three running scores against Vanderbilt.
• Gators defensive tackle Tedarrell Slaton has 12 tackles in the past two games, which equals more than half his season total (22).