Franks, Perine and Zuniga to Join Mullen at SEC Media Days
Wednesday, July 10, 2019 | Football
Florida's contingent appears at the event on Monday in Hoover, Ala.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 2019 SEC Football Media Days start next week and Gators head coach Dan Mullen will be joined by quarterback Feleipe Franks, running back Lamical Perine and defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga.
The SEC office announced the full list of players attending the four-day media festival on Wednesday, which runs Monday through Thursday in Hoover, Ala. The Gators will attend the event Monday, July 15, along with LSU and Missouri.
This marks the first time since 2016 that Florida will appear on the first day at the event.
SEC Network and ESPN will once again be on site to bring SEC Media Days to a national audience.
Feleipe Franks:
- 2018: Played in and started all 13 games at quarterback, throwing for 2,457 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions on the season… Totaled 350 rushing yards on 110 carries and a team-high tying seven rushing touchdowns… Led the Gators to a 10-3 record and No. 6 final ranking in the USA Today Coaches' Poll… Became the first Gators quarterback since John Brantley in 2010 to start every game throughout the entire season… Finished the season with 31 touchdowns accounted for, tied with Chris Leak's 2004 season for the seventh-highest single-season total in school history… His seven rushing touchdowns left him one shy of tying Tim Tebow (2006) and Jimmy Fisher (1979) for the sixth-most rushing touchdowns by a Gators quarterback in a single season… Ranked tied for 32nd nationally with 24 touchdown passes, which was also the highest single-season total by a UF quarterback since Tebow threw 30 in 2008... Finished the season tied for 17th nationally in touchdown-interception ratio… Among players with 315-plus attempts, he tied for 14th... Since the start of 1996, Tebow (7.50 - 2008; 5.33 - 2007; 4.20 - 2009) is the only Gator with a better touchdown-interception ratio than Franks' 4.00 (24 to 6) in 2018… One of 12 FBS quarterbacks to throw more than 20 touchdowns and less than seven interceptions… Became the fourth Gators QB since 1996 to accomplish that aforementioned feat, and Franks had the second-most attempts (322) in that bundle, only trailing Tebow's 2007 season (350)… Registered the highest passing yardage total since Tebow threw for 2,895 yards in 2009… His four games of three-plus touchdown passes were the most such games since Tebow had four in 2008, and they were just one shy of UF quarterbacks' combined total from the 50 games spanning 2014-17… His six 200-yard passing games are the most since Tebow's seven in 2009… Capped his season with Offensive MVP honors in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, as he joined Tebow as the only other Gators quarterback since the start of the 2000 season to record a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in a bowl game.. Ended the 2018 season on a streak of 135 pass attempts without an interception (last INT vs. Georgia in 1st Quarter), which ranks as the fourth-longest streak in UF history… 2017: Played in all 11 games and made eight starts at quarterback, throwing for 1,438 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions on the season… Became the first redshirt freshman to start a season opener at QB for the Gators since Kyle Morris in 1988… Recorded 212 yards passing (19-for-28) with two touchdowns and one interception against Tennessee… UF defeated UT with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Franks to Tyrie Cleveland on the final play of the game... That play marked the only time in school history that the Gators defeated an opponent with a touchdown on the final play of regulation… Antonio Callaway's catch-and-run from Will Grier against the Vols in 2015, which was also a 63-yard pass play, gave the Gators' a 28-27 victory that season… Florida ran the exact same play, "Train Ride Open, Big Bend In." on both occasions… Recorded a 79-yard rush in the third quarter against Texas A&M on Oct. 14, which is the longest run by a UF quarterback in school history… Combined with Malik Zaire to throw for 256 passing yards at Missouri on Nov. 4, which was a season-high for the Gators… In addition, that contest marked the first time that UF threw for at least 250 yards against an SEC opponent since Dec. 3, 2016 (2016 SEC Championship, Alabama)... Became just the second UF quarterback since 2012 to start at least eight games in a season… Totaled a 3-5 record as a starter… 2016: Did not appear in a game and redshirted.
Lamical Perine:
- 2018: Played in all 13 contests and recorded one start (Missouri)… Led the team with 134 carries, 826 rushing yards and seven touchdowns… Caught 13 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown… Ranked first on the Gators in total yards (996) and second in scoring (48)… Tallied a pair of rushing touchdowns against LSU and South Carolina… Notched 100-yard rushing performances at Vanderbilt (23-121) and Florida State (13-129)… Tallied 22 rushes of more than 10 yards… Bought into Dan Mullen's philosophy to spilt carries with Jordan Scarlett, which kept them both fresh throughout a game and the entire season… Overall, the Gators ranked fourth in the SEC in yards per carry (5.29) and yards per game (213.15) and totaled 2,771 yards rushing on 526 attempts during the season… That mark passed the 2007 Gators (2,602) for the program's third-highest rushing yardage total since the start of 1990; only the 2008 Gators (3,326) and 2009 Gators (3,105) had higher totals… Also as a team, UF rushed for 200-plus yards nine times, which tied the 2008 Gators for the highest number of times it hit that mark in a season since the start of 1996… Perine (826) and Scarlett (776) are the first pair of Gators with at least 775 rushing yards in a season since Elijah Williams (858) and Terry Jackson (780) both hit that mark in 1995… Was one of three players (Scarlett, Feleipe Franks) who scored at least five rushing touchdowns, which marked the first time UF accomplished that feat since 2010… 2017: Spent the season as Florida's most consistent running back and offensive player… Played in all 11 contests and started eight times… Led the team with 136 carries, 562 rushing yards and eight touchdowns… Caught 10 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown… Ranked first on the Gators in total yards (643)… Rushed for 58 yards and three touchdowns on 15 carries against Vanderbilt, marking the first multi-touchdown game of his career… With that performance, he became the first UF running back to score three touchdowns in a game since DeShawn Wynn did so against Kentucky in 2005… One week later, he tallied 12 carries for 70 yards and two touchdowns against LSU… With those back-to-back performances, he was the first UF player to rush for at least two touchdowns in consecutive games since Mike Gillislee did so against Texas A&M and LSU in 2012... His nine total touchdowns rank as the fifth most a UF running back since 1996 (1: Kelvin Taylor – 13, 2015; 2: Ciatrick Fason – 12, 2004; 3: Mike Gillislee – 11, 2012; 4: Earnest Graham – 11, 2002)… Tallied a career-high 20 attempts on the ground against UAB… Recorded a career-high four catches for 30 yards and his first-career receiving touchdown at Missouri… 2016: Played in all 13 games throughout the season… Finished second on the team with 421 yards on 91 carries (4.6 avg) and one touchdown… Caught nine passes for 161 yards and one touchdown… Had a 17.9 average yards per reception, which ranked second on the team… Was the team's leading rusher against Kentucky (105 yards) and Missouri (106 yards)… Was one of 14 FBS true freshmen to post multiple 100-yard rushing games and one of eight to post both 100-yard games against a Power Five opponent... Became the first UF freshman running back since Jeff Demps in 2008 to have multiple 100-yard rushing games against SEC Opponents... Overall, he became the 16th UF true freshman since 1955 to rush for 100 yards in a game... Scored his first-career touchdown on a 28-yard reception against Kentucky… Recorded his first rushing touchdown against North Texas on a two-yard scamper in the second quarter… Served as a reserve kick returner as he totaled four kickoff returns for 86 yards (21.5 average)… Notched his longest return of the season (41 yards) against Missouri.
Jabari Zuniga
- 2018: Appeared in and started all 13 games… Recorded 45 tackles on the season and finished second on the team with 11.0 tackles-for-loss, 6.5 sacks and four quarterback hurries… He and his teammate Jachai Polite became the first pair of Gators with at least 11 tackles-for-loss in a season since the trio of Jon Bullard (17.5), Antonio Morrison (12.0) and Jarrad Davis (11.0) all reached that mark in 2015... They are also the first pair of Gators defensive linemen to reach that total in a season since Jaye Howard (12.0) and Justin Trattou (11.0) did it in 2010… Earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors following Florida's win vs. Colorado State after he posted a career-best 2.5 sacks, five tackles and a QB hurry… Named to the Ted Hendricks Award Watch List during the season… Notched a pair of six tackle performances against UGA and Missouri… 2017: Played in 10 games and recorded six starts… Battled some injuries throughout the season… Totaled 34 tackles, 8.0 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, one forced recovery and a six quarterback hurries… Ranked second on the team in sacks and third in tackles-for-loss… One of three players to recover a fumble (UAB)… Recorded a career-high seven tackles against Florida State… Tallied a pair of tackles-for-loss against Kentucky and LSU… 2016: Played in all 13 games and started three times… Recorded his first-career start against Georgia… Totaled 25 tackles on the season, including one forced fumble, 8.5 tackles-for-loss and a team-best 5.0 sacks and 11 quarterback hurries... In his collegiate debut against UMass, Zuniga totaled four tackles, two tackles-for-loss and two sacks… Also recorded a pair of sacks against North Texas… In the SEC Championship Game against Alabama, he blocked Alabama's extra point attempt with 1:42 left in the first quarter, and linebacker David Reese returned it for a defensive PAT (two points)… That marked the first blocked extra point in the SEC Championship since 2003 (Georgia's Kedric Golston blocked LSU's Chris Jackson) and it was the blocked extra point returned for a defensive PAT in the SEC Championship since 1997 (Auburn's Charles Dorsey blocked Tennessee's Jeff Hall, and Auburn's Quinton Reese returned the block)… Garnered Coaches' Second Team All-SEC honors… 2015: Did not see any game action and redshirted.
2019 MEDIA PREDICTIONS
A day after the conclusion of the 2019 Southeastern Conference Media Days (Friday, July 19), the media in Hoover, Ala. will predict their selections for All-SEC teams and reveal the how the 2019 standings will look at the end of the season.
Just seven times since 1992 has the predicted champion at SEC Media Days proceeded to win the SEC Championship.
2019 SEC FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYS SCHEDULE
Monday, July 15
- Florida – Dan Mullen
- LSU – Ed Orgeron
- Missouri – Barry Odom
Tuesday, July 16
- Georgia – Kirby Smart
- Ole Miss – Matt Luke
- Tennessee – Jeremy Pruitt
- Texas A&M – Jimbo Fisher
Wednesday, July 17
- Alabama – Nick Saban
- Arkansas – Chad Morris
- Miss. State – Joe Moorhead
- South Carolina – Will Muschamp
Thursday, July 18
- Auburn – Gus Malzahn
- Kentucky – Mark Stoops
- Vanderbilt – Derek Mason
Players Mentioned
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