Wednesday, September 11, 2019 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In Florida's last visit to Kroger Field to face Kentucky, Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks made his third career start.
Franks looked the part of a redshirt freshman with little experience in a performance with some ups – a 45-yard touchdown pass to Tyrie Cleveland that tied the game 14-all late in the first half – and some downs. Franks (7 of 12, 85 yards, 1 TD) was benched late in the third quarter and forced to watch Luke Del Rio lead Florida from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to a 28-27 win on a 5-yard scoring pass to Freddie Swain with 43 seconds left in the game. The benching came only a week after Franks connected with Cleveland for a 63-yard Hail Mary pass to defeat Tennessee on the game's final play.
Two years later, Franks enters the Kentucky game coming off the best game of his career statistically.
Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks signals to the crowd in his first trip to Kroger Field in 2017. (Photo: Justin Casterline/UAA Communications)
Franks missed the mark on just two throws – one a Hail Mary at the end of the first half – to set a school record (see chart). Franks gave way to backups Kyle Trask and Emory Jones in the second half of Florida's 45-0 win over UT Martin for entirely different reasons than 2017 in Lexington.
The Skyhawks' 3-5-3 defensive scheme was no problem for Franks and Florida's offense to shred. Kentucky's defense under seventh-year head coach Mark Stoops is stout, a lesson learned by Franks (24 of 50, 317 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT) in two career starts vs. Wildcats.
He gets a third shot on Saturday night as the Gators seek to avenge last year's 27-16 home loss to the Wildcats, snapping their 31-game win streak in the series.
"It's a different challenge than last week, you know, where there was so much drop-eight and guys all over the place,'' Gators head coach Dan Mullen said. "Obviously, different challenges. He's got to make his reads, similar to what he did last week. Take what the defense gave us. If they're going to give us a shot down the field, don't be afraid to take it. If they're not, don't be afraid to check it down and really do a good job of taking what they're giving us and recognizing the differences in coverages."
CHARTING THE GATORS
Gators quarterback Feleipe Franks moved to the top of the school record book for highest completion percentage with at least 20 attempts in a single game:
* Gators DE Jabari Zuniga leads the SEC with three sacks and is one of only four players at FBS schools with at least three sacks and four tackles for loss, joining Oluwole Betiku Jr. of Illinois, Charlotte's Alex Highsmith and Michigan State's Kenny Willekes.
* Redshirt junior DE/LB Jeremiah Moon has a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss in the season's first two games. Moon entered the season with 2.5 TFL in 25 career games.
* Florida's 543 yards of total offense against UT Martin marked the fourth time during its six-game win streak dating to last season that the Gators have gained 500 or more yards. UF has averaged 489.7 yards per game over that span.
* Gators junior WR Kadarius Toney will not play Saturday due to a shoulder injury he suffered in the first quarter against UT Martin. Florida junior CB CJ Henderson is not expected to play either due to an ankle injury. Henderson has started 16 consecutive games, the second-longest streak on the team behind QB Feleipe Franks (18) and Zuniga (18).
* Franks passed Gators legend Steve Spurrier on the school's career passing touchdowns list with two scoring throws against UT Martin. Franks has 37 career touchdown passes. Spurrier finished his career with 36. Franks needs two to tie Terry Dean (39) for ninth all-time in school history.
* Florida has opened SEC play against Kentucky 11 times in school history, the first time coming in 1936. This is the second consecutive season the schools have met in UF's SEC opener. The Gators are 9-2 all-time against the Wildcats in SEC openers, their only losses in 1936 and 2018.
* The NCAA ruled Tuesday that Kentucky linebacker Xavier Peters is eligible to play this season. A transfer from Florida State, Peters joined the Wildcats over the summer and did not play in the first two games while awaiting a decision from the NCAA.
* The Gators have scored 24 or more points in each game during their six-game win streak. Meanwhile, Kentucky's defense has allowed 24 or less points in 15 of its last 16 games, the program's best stretch since allowing 24 or less points in 18 of 19 games from Oct. 14, 1978, to Sept. 6, 1980.
* Kentucky redshirt freshman RB Kavosiey Smoke is averaging 9.4 yards on 18 carries. According to Kentucky's game notes, Smoke is the first Wildcats player in records dating to 1946 to score on runs of at least 32 yards in each of his first two games. Smoke has a 40-yard TD in the opener and a 32-yard scoring run in last week's win over Eastern Michigan.
* The Gators can win their seventh consecutive game on Saturday, a feat they haven't accomplished since a seven-game streak that started with a Birmingham Bowl victory over East Carolina to conclude the 2014 season and then a 6-0 start to the 2015 season.
