Florida Gators

LEXINGTON, Ky. – At 11:32 p.m. on an unseasonably warm Saturday night in the Bluegrass State, a freshly showered Kyle Trask exited the visiting team's concrete-block interview room located in the underbelly of Kroger Field. A half hour earlier, Trask had entered the locker room to hugs and high-fives from his teammates after replacing injured starter Feleipe Franks and leading the Gators to a 29-21 comeback win over the Wildcats.

Now, as he wiped a glint of sweat from his forehead, Trask grabbed a bag of Chick-fil-A provided by a trainer for the bus ride to the airport. He then turned the corner for the walk to the waiting team bus.

For a brief second, Trask appeared startled. More than at any point in his 9-for-13, 126-yard relief effort against Kentucky in which he directed touchdown drives of 62, 66 and 80 yards in the fourth quarter.

Dozens of Gators fans, hanging around long after the final play, erupted in applause. In the middle of answering a question, Trask wondered if it was alright to go say hello.

Of course. Trask had waited on a moment like this since stepping onto campus in the spring of 2016.

"I did what I had to do for the team,'' he said.

While Franks ascended to starter and led the Gators to a turnaround season in head coach Dan Mullen's first season in 2018, Trask's name mostly got tossed about as part of transfer rumors other than for a brief appearance in last season's loss to Missouri when he replaced Franks and temporarily lit a fire under the offense. Before any real quarterback controversy could develop, Trask suffered a season-ending foot injury the following Monday at practice.

Trask had only played sparingly since, his role seemingly destined to be that of a "program guy" and career backup. It's a label Trask was accustomed to prior to ever signing with the Gators. Unlike most quarterbacks at high-profile schools like Florida, Trask was used mostly as a reserve at Manvel (Texas) High behind D'Eriq King, who is the University of Houston's starting quarterback.
 
Once Trask navigated the postgame selfie seekers and autograph requests Saturday night, he tried to reinforce the idea that what he did against the Wildcats in a difficult situation was not that out of the ordinary in his mind. He studies the playbook. He understands the position. He puts in the work.

Trask has prepared for such a moment for the past seven years whether it came or not.

"A lot of people bring up the fact that I didn't play in high school, but I played with great coaches in high school. I learned a lot while I was there. I played behind a great quarterback in D'Eriq King. He's a superstar, he's a stud,'' Trask said. "And really, Coach Mullen, he can take anybody and make them into a great quarterback. He's really developed us ever since he's been here. He's given us the knowledge and confidence to make plays out there on the field."

Trask's turn came Saturday when Franks, on a failed fourth-and-1 play late in the third quarter, was stopped and his lower body planted underneath a pile of players as others crashed over him from above. Franks' body bent in an unnatural way, the result a devastating ankle injury that Mullen said will keep him sidelined for the rest of the year.

Trask understood the significance of the moment when he saw Franks. Either he or redshirt freshman Emory Jones would enter the game on UF's next possession.

"You never want that to be the way you see the field,'' he said.

Mullen called both reserve quarterbacks over and told them each to be prepared to play. The plan was to roll both of them in and out. Trask took care of the rest, leading Florida on a six-play, 62-yard scoring drive to trim Kentucky's lead to 21-16 early in the fourth quarter.

He considered the shovel pitch to running back Lamical Perine for an 8-yard score to cap the drive his best play of the game. On an option play, Trask broke up field for an opening and when a pair of Wildcats squeezed him in. He instinctively turned and pitched the ball back to Perine while falling to the turf.

"That was pretty cool,'' he said.

Mullen agreed, calling the play total improvisation.

"Kyle was kind of hot and we just kind of stuck with it,'' Mullen said.

Trask's 4-yard run with 4:11 left gave the Gators a 22-21 lead, and after Kentucky's Chance Poore missed a potential game-winning field goal, Trask handed the ball off to receiver Josh Hammond on a jet sweet. Hammond raced 76 yards for the score.

Trask raced to the end zone to celebrate, showing the kind of emotion Florida fans are familiar with from Franks but not Trask, a soft-spoken 6-foot-5, 239-pound Texan.

"Kyle gets juiced. He's not emotional as Feleipe,'' Hammond said. "He doesn't wear his emotions on his sleeve as much as Feleipe, but he does get jacked and excited about football. We kind of experienced it last year in the Missouri game. We were confident.

"He was really pinpoint in his decisions. He didn't let go or take off the gas. That's probably what impressed me the most. His decision-making was so quick."



Receiver Freddie Swain said he knew Trask was ready as soon as he looked at him following Franks' injury. Swain pulled Trask aside to see where his head was considering the circumstances.

Trask was already where he needed to be.

"He had a look in his eye,'' Swain said. "This is the Kyle we want under center. He came up big when we needed him."

In an emotional locker room afterward, Mullen called Franks to the center of the team to break the huddle. Franks labored on crutches as his teammates offered their support. The emotional heartbeat of the Gators, Franks returned home with the team and faces a lengthy recovery.

Mullen said the plan is to give both Trask and Jones snaps moving forward. It's a plan he incorporates in practice each day, regardless if it shows up in games. That way, a comeback win with a backup quarterback in charge can become reality.

"I can't tell you how hard it is to do what Kyle did." Mullen said. "It's a tribute to him and his mental toughness. We want to have three starting quarterbacks because you never know how things are going to shake out. It's one of the reasons we practice the way we do. If you look at the end of training camp, every one of our quarterbacks had equal reps."

Trask made his count. Those fans waiting on him were proof of that.