Kyle Trask feared his college football dream was over

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Kyle Trask feared it was history repeating itself.

"I just felt a pop in my knee and I was in a lot of pain," said the Gators quarterback after Florida's 24-13 win over Auburn.

Was another injury going to sideline the signal caller for the third year in a row?

Early in the second quarter, Trask threw an incomplete pass to Josh Hammond. As it fell, Stone Forsythe blocked Auburn defensive lineman Marlon Davidson, sending Davidson tumbling right onto Trask's left leg.

Trask was in pain, shaking his head on the floor. Tyrie Cleveland kneeled beside Trask to pray and was soon joined by his other Florida teammates.

The Auburn defense took a knee close to Trask.

The Swamp was quiet.

Trask thought his season was over. He thought after seven years, his chance was about to be taken away from him.

"I didn't know what I was about to hear, and I was kind of ready to hear the worst I guess," Trask said. "That's why I was just so emotional."

The Texas native breathed a sigh of relief when the trainers told him he only strained a MCL.

"Just excitement, ready to go out there in The Swamp again," said Trask when he found out the news. "You know, go out there and do what I can do for the team."

He was soon checked back in with what was happening on the field.

"I wasn't watching but as I was in the training room I kept asking like 'What are they doing, how is Emory [Jones] doing?'" Trask said. "And someone radioed over that we got a field goal and I was so happy, and I'm so proud of him. You know, he works really hard, I just couldn't be more proud."

"We got a lot of trust in Emory," said Gators head coach Dan Mullen. "He came in, did a great job. I have a lot of trust in Emory out there. And he did an awesome job, led us down to get a big field goal."

This allowed Trask some moments on the sideline to test his knee.

"I (said to Kyle) 'Run around, throw some balls, get loose and you tell me if you think (you're good)," said Mullen. "Trainers said you could go back in, but you tell me what you think. I’m not just going to throw you back in there.'"

Trask felt well enough to play. According to his teammates, seeing him run out on the field again hyped up the team even more.

“I feel like that's a tough quarterback," said safety Shawn Davis. "Like a lot of quarterbacks when they get hurt, they sit out but I'm coming back in and keep playing I feel like this is a big thing.”

"I think a lot of us were just proud of him, being tough when he was hurt and to come back in," safety Donovan Stiner. "In a tough game like this, it just shows us what kind of character he has."

"I think he wasn’t going to miss that opportunity, let that slip away," said Mullen about Trask's determination of returning into the game. "Maybe he watched Emory go in there and whip the ball around on the TV in the training room or something.

"When you look at him that’s just who he’s been. His character, he’s never wavered since I've been here and it’s pretty amazing. I think the thing, the trust that we have in him, he’s going to go out there and he said I can go and he’s ready to go and he’s going to do a good job.”

Trask showed grit and determination, although it certainly was not the prettiest game by the quarterback. Trask finished the game throwing 19-of-31 for 234 yards and two touchdowns. He also fumbled the ball three times and was sacked four times.

Trask needs to learn to get rid of the ball a bit quicker against tougher competition.

"As far as the timing you're not going to be able to sit back there and have a sandwich while you're waiting for guys to get open," said Mullen. "Wanted to make sure we had some quick throws but we had to have some intermediate and down-the-field throws. But you can't sit there and hold the ball long. You saw a couple times we held it a little too long and we ended up turning it over. But we didn't flinch, we kept sticking with it and he kept making throws."

He kept making throws.

He didn't flinch.

All accurate when it comes to Trask and this Florida offense.

In the end, No. 10 Florida came out of the Swamp with a 24-13 win over No. 7 Auburn.

For now, Trask should be good to go moving forward.

"We'll see, swelling, that stuff. We'll see how that plays out," said Mullen. "But I don't think, they certainly wouldn't have cleared him to go back in the game this week if they thought there was some issue."

So Trask is counting his blessings that his season was not ended by another injury.

"I had a million things going through my mind," Trask said. "I'm just so grateful that it turned out to be a lot better than it could have been.

"It was an amazing feeling. Our fans here are the best in the country, and to go back out there and finish the game for our team, it felt really good."