Florida Gators

ORLANDO – In what was already a night of unexpected twists and turns for the Gators and quarterback Feleipe Franks, it appeared the final stretch of Saturday's ride against the Miami Hurricanes would be smoother than the previous three-plus hours.

With less than five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and the Gators ahead 24-20, UF's Jeremiah Moon and Marlon Dunlap Jr. sacked Hurricanes quarterback Jarren Williams on fourth-and-9 at Florida's 30. The Gators had the ball and the momentum.

Florida took over with 4:30 remaining and an opportunity to run some clock and force Miami to use its remaining timeouts. But on first down, the tone in ESPN play-by-play announcer Chris Fowler's voice as Franks dropped back revealed his surprise at the play call.

"Up by four and Franks is thinking about throwing on first down, and it's a pick,'' said Fowler on the replay that quickly found its way to Twitter. "A disastrous play."

Hurricanes defensive end Jon Garvin hit Franks right as he threw the ball, forcing the pass to drift and get intercepted by Romeo Finley, who returned it 19 yards to Florida's 25. The Gators got a break when Hurricanes defensive back Al Blades Jr. was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty on the return, forcing UM to start at the Gators' 40.



Still, the turn of events hushed Florida fans packed into the sellout crowd at Camping World Stadium in the first meeting between the two storied programs in six years. Was this season opener -- eight months after Florida capped head coach Dan Mullen's first season with a resounding win over Michigan in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta to finish 10-3 -- going to end in disappointment like the one two years ago in Franks' first career start when the Gators stumbled in a neutral-site venue against the Wolverines?

It sure seemed so after Franks' second interception in the final quarter.

Mullen explained the play call during his packed press conference.

"I'm putting the game in his hands,'' Mullen said. "I thought we had something there and we didn't. He was trying to throw it away and he gets hit and the ball kind of floats and gets picked. That's on me.

"I don't know if I would have put him in that situation last year. It shows the confidence we have in him."

Following the costly interception, the Gators somehow survived perhaps the craziest final 4 minutes, 20 seconds of a football game you'll ever see – three Miami fumbles, two UF pass interference calls, even a chop block by Miami – thanks primarily to a defense that constantly pressured Williams in his last-ditch attempt to pull off an upset against the No. 8-ranked Gators in his first career start.

Instead, Franks took his turn at the winning podium afterward.

Florida's win more resembled a Pollock than a Rembrandt on muggy late-summer night.

"The game did get sloppy at times,'' said Franks, who finished 17 of 27 for 254 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions and a lost fumble. "Obviously I didn't try to go out there and throw a pick. That's not what I planned to do. But thing happen throughout the course of the game. That's what adversity is. It's all about just trying to persevere through it. That's what we did."

The much-maligned fourth-year junior Gators quarterback, who resurrected his career with a late-season flourish last season that included eight touchdown passes, four touchdown runs and no interceptions over the final four games, was not at his best on Saturday. Yet in crunch time, he made his two biggest plays.

Of course, Franks was not alone in looking the part of playing in a season opener. The young Florida offensive line had trouble keeping Miami's front seven out of reach. The running game (52 yards on 27 attempts) barely broke a sweat. Missed tackles, penalties and turnovers kept UF from finding a rhythm.

A drenched Mullen summed up the way many felt after watching a game that featured 23 penalties for a combined 225 yards (Florida had nine for 100).

"That was exhausting,'' Mullen said.

As soon as Mullen finished his opening statement, he was tossed a question about Franks' performance. He had to know that was coming. Mullen gained attention Monday when he dealt Franks a rare dose of praise for his improvement in the offseason. That had everyone intrigued by what they would see Saturday.

The critics may not have liked it, but Mullen won't lose any sleep following his ninth win as a head coach in 11 openers.

"I was pleased with a bunch of stuff with him,'' Mullen said. "One of the things he knows is, we're going to put the game in his hands. There [are] some teachable moments in there and some things he can continue to learn. One of the things I kept seeing from, even if things didn't go right, we made a mistake, he came right back firing."

Franks' shining moment against the Hurricanes came on the game-winning drive midway in the fourth quarter. On first-and-10 from the 20 and Miami leading 20-17, Franks drilled a pass down the seam in the middle of the field that Josh Hammond caught and raced downfield.

By the time Hammond was caught, he had a 65-yard reception and Florida was deep in Miami territory. Three plays later, Franks scored the winning touchdown on a 3-yard run. In the aftermath of victory, after Florida's defense held on with the help of 10 sacks, Franks punted a ball into the stands.

Franks' performance will be dissected from top to bottom the next two weeks, but in the end, he was responsible for the winning score with the game on the line.

Mullen will take that anytime.

"He handled adversity that came long,'' Mullen said. "That's a sign of maturity."