Florida Gators

MIAMI – He was a name unfamiliar to even many Florida fans a year ago. Not anymore.

When the ninth-ranked Gators (10-2) face No. 24 Virginia (9-4) on Monday night in the Capital One Orange Bowl, Kyle Trask will be a headliner for better or worse. In one of college football's most unlikely stories of 2019, Trask has gone from career bench-warmer to starter.

He took over for the injured Feleipe Franks in the third game of the season at Kentucky and led the Gators to a comeback win over the Wildcats. A month later, Trask staged a back-and-forth duel with eventual Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow of LSU until a crucial interception late returned momentum to the Tigers.
 

.@ktrask9 is ready for @GatorsFB fans to be loud on Monday night.#GoGators | #CapitalOneOrangeBowl pic.twitter.com/UqDfz71wEV

— Orange Bowl (@OrangeBowl) December 27, 2019

Trask's commitment to the Gators in the era of the transfer portal is a story of perseverance. Instead of transferring for his shot, Trask remained loyal to the Gators and when his turn finally arrived, proved he was ready.

Trask enters the Orange Bowl completing 67.6 percent of his passes (213 of 315) for 2,636 yards, 24 touchdowns and only six interceptions. A traditional drop-back passer atypical of the style of player normally directing a Dan Mullen offense, Mullen tweaked the offense to better suit Trask and Trask has expanded his skill-set when needed.

The recipe has worked as the Gators earned a second consecutive New Year's Six bowl berth and have an opportunity to win 11 games for only the eighth time in school history with a victory over the Cavaliers.

In his final press conference prior to the game, Mullen reiterated Sunday his respect for Trask's approach in waiting on his opportunity.

"You know what, that's really hard to do,'' Mullen said. "With all the noise, all the attention, with whether it's social media or everything else, I think one thing [is] how he's handled being a guy that didn't really start in high school but played a bunch, I think that gets taken out. It's not like he never played. He played a bunch. He just wasn't the starter on his high school team.

"To come in here to Florida and not being the starter but continuing to work every day, it's really hard. One of the most impressive things he did is he continued to do that throughout his career."

Last year at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, it was Franks who was named Florida's Most Outstanding Player on offense in a 41-15 win over Michigan. Trask watched from the shadows as Franks became the first UF quarterback since Tim Tebow to be named MOP in a bowl game.

A year later, Franks is recovering from a broken ankle and exploring his transfer options. Trask is the new BMOC – Big Man on Campus – far from the shadows.
  MOST OUTSTANDING QBs
 
The Gators will play in their 45th bowl game in school history on Monday night. In eight of those games, Florida's starting quarterback was named one of the game's Most Outstanding Players. A look at those performances:
 

QUARTERBACK	SEASON	GAME	NOTABLE
Larry Libertore	1960	Gator Bowl	Ran for 61 yards, passed for 36 to beat Baylor and cap UF's first nine-win season in school history
Tommy Shannon	1962	Gator Bowl	Threw for two touchdowns and rushed for 26 yards to upset No. 9 Penn State
Steve Spurrier	1965	Sugar Bowl	Passed for 352 yards, two scores and added a rushing TD in 20-18 loss scarred by missed PATs
Danny Wuerffel	1996	Sugar Bowl	Competed 18 of 34 for 306 yards and three TDs in 52-20 win over FSU for UF's first national title
Chris Leak	2006	Fiesta Bowl	Passed for 213 yards (25 of 36) and a TD to win over Ohio State in BCS National Championship
Tim Tebow	2008	Orange Bowl	Passed for 231 yards, two TDs and rushed for 109 in win over Oklahoma for national title
Tim Tebow	2009	Sugar Bowl	Passed for Sugar Bowl-record 482 yards, rushed for 51 in 51-24 throttling of Cincinnati
Feleipe Franks	2018	Peach Bowl	Completed 13 of 23 for 173 yards and a TD, rushed for 74 yards in first win over Michigan

 
  NEWS, NOTES & NUGGETS
 

• The Gators are 23-21 all-time in bowl games and can end consecutive seasons with bowl wins for the first time since a four-year streak from 2008-11, the longest such streak in program history.
• Virginia is 8-12 all-time in bowl games, last winning a year ago with a 28-0 victory over South Carolina in the Belk Bowl. The Cavaliers are trying to win 10 games in a season for only the second time in program history and first time since 1989.
• Florida junior cornerback Marco Wilson said he was one of the five underclassmen head coach Dan Mullen requested grades for from the NFL's College Advisory Committee. Wilson plans to further evaluate his prospects after the Orange Bowl prior to announcing a final decision.
• Gators defensive tackle Kyree Campbell is not entertaining the idea of leaving school. "I've got to come back,'' he said. "I just think to better me personally, my skills. I know we're going to have a great team next year and I want to be a part of it."
• True freshman cornerback Kaiir Elam has emerged as the top replacement for CJ Henderson, who announced earlier this month that he is entering the NFL Draft and not playing in Monday's game. Elam has started four games and is expected to get the bulk of Henderson's reps against Virginia.
• Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall said Sunday that senior linebacker Jordan Mack, who has 43 career starts, will miss the Orange Bowl due to an ankle injury that required surgery. Mack has a team-high 7.5 sacks and ranks third with 69 tackles. Freshman Nick Jackson moves up the depth chart.
• The Cavaliers are 2-4 all-time against SEC teams in bowl games, their only wins a season ago against South Carolina and a 34-27 win over Georgia in the 1995 Peach Bowl.
• Florida has fared much better in bowl games in its home state, going 16-8 in postseason games in Florida and 7-13 outside the state. The Gators' record for most points in a bowl game remains their 56-23 win over Maryland in the 2002 Orange Bowl, Steve Spurrier's final game as UF's head coach.
• Virginia is the first team to play the Sunshine State's Big 3 – Florida, Florida State and Miami – in the same season since Auburn in 1984. Virginia beat FSU 31-24 and lost at Miami 17-9. Meanwhile, the Gators defeated the Hurricanes 24-20 in the season opener and FSU 40-17 in the regular-season finale.
• Cavaliers quarterback Bryce Perkins has 1,668 career rushing yards in his two seasons, breaking the school record previously held by Pro Football Hall of Famer "Bullet Bill" Dudley (1,631).

 

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