On the SEC teleconference Wednesday morning, Florida head coach Jim McElwain said that graduate transfer Austin Appleby would earn the starting nod at quarterback in the absence of Luke Del Rio (shoulder) when the Gators square off against South Carolina this Saturday at noon ET in The Swamp.
Freshman Feleipe Franks right now is No. 2 on the depth chart and could also end up playing down the stretch, according to McElwain, while freshman Kyle Trask is third. Del Rio will be "out for a while," McElwain reaffirmed.
"Austin will jump out there and take the starts," McElwain said. "Feleipe has been getting a bunch of reps, and Kyle has been getting probably less. So we'll go with Austin and Feleipe, with Kyle kind of in the bullpen."
In three appearances this season late against North Texas and then at Tennessee and Vanderbilt, Appleby has combined for 470 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on 61.1% passing.
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When asked whether Florida would prefer to redshirt Franks this year, McElwain replied, "That has yet to be decided. We'll see where he is."
"I know this: We're not afraid at any point of him playing, I guess is hopefully that answer to your question," McElwain said. "Austin is going to take those first snaps. We'll see where that piece goes as we move forward. We need a spark, and Feleipe could be that guy. Who knows. And yet, it's not all about that position sometimes. Making sure the other guys around them are taking care of their responsibilities as well."
McElwain went on to further explain why Franks, a four-star signee from the 2016 class, earned the No. 2 spot over Trask.
"He's really done a good job of learning how to play the position at the standpoint of, he wasn't one of these guys groomed in these year-round quarterback schools and that kind of stuff," McElwain said of Franks. "He's a multi-sport guy obviously, played a lot of time in the summer playing baseball. Obviously played basketball, did kind of a year-round deal.
"I think his upside is huge. He's knowing where to go with it, more and more and more comfortable verbiage-wise and things like that. Obviously has a heck of an arm, and sometimes that arm gets him in trouble. He tries to force it sometimes. But he can get away with it sometimes, too."
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