Cleveland: "Give me a chance"
With nine seconds left, Florida had the ball on its own 37-yard line, all tied up with Tennessee 20-20. Redshirt freshman quarterback Feleipe Franks wasn’t sure if he would be throwing a deep ball. Sophomore wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland knew he wanted the ball in his hands.
“Well, I had a go route and before the play, I told Feleipe, ‘Give me a chance,’” Cleveland said. “I looked at him, and he hiked the ball and because the corner was pressed, I inside released and just ran fast. I thought I was going to get behind the safety, but when he rode out, it was wide open.”
The play was executed differently, but it was actually the same call (“Train Right Open, Big Ben In”) Florida made two years ago when Antonio Callaway scored the go-ahead touchdown in a 28-27 victory over the Volunteers. Franks knew he needed to get the ball to a receiver, but he wasn’t sure which one.
“I actually didn’t go into that play looking to throw a deep ball,” Franks recalled. “I knew the kick line was around the 35 or the 38. With nine seconds, that would be kind of hard to get that far down field to get out of bounds and stuff like that.
“In the back of my head, I’m thinking, ‘Get the ball into a receiver’s hands.’ Let them make plays, because that’s what they’re good at. That’s not what I’m good at – I can’t go and juke 30 people. That was definitely my mindset going into the play, and I think that’s just what I did – got the ball to a ballplayer.”
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On a team with an abundance of speedsters, it’s easy to forget that one of Florida’s biggest wideouts, the 6-2, 205-pound Cleveland, can also turn on the jets. The wide receiver who ran a 4.36-second 40-yard dash at “The Opening” in 2016, credited his speed with getting him open in the end zone.
“I saw the corner press and I just ran fast,” Cleveland said. “I just ran straight and ran with the quarterback as he scrambled out. It’s that simple. I just ran fast.”
Cleveland ran fast enough to catch Franks’ eye as he scrambled. The redshirt freshman quarterback was scrambling out of the Tennessee pass rush as the clock ran out.
“When I was rolling out, I was actually thinking about running it,” Franks said. “Then, through the corner of my eye, I just see Tyrie running through the back, a little chase post back that way. It was kind of an in-the-moment thing. I just kind of set my feet and put it up for him.”
Cleveland already had one highlight for the ages in his career, a 98-yard touchdown reception against LSU in Florida’s upset win in Baton Rouge last year. He confirmed that that highlight has officially been topped.
“I think this is way bigger than the 98-yard touchdown against LSU,” he said. “This was in a better situation, game on the line.”
Franks is still processing what happened. When he addressed the media 30 minutes after the game, he stated that he had not yet spoke to his parents or his girlfriend. He had just lived out a childhood dream of anyone who has ever played football.
“Growing up as a kid, you always think about plays like that happening in your life,” the Crawfordville, Fla. native said. “Then, when you come out here and it actually happens, it’s indescribable.”
Perhaps he’ll be able to describe the moment once he has time to reflect.
“It’s kind of hard to take in right now, but it’s going to sink in at one point,” Franks said. “I’m going to sit back and realize what just happened.”
For 87,736 fans in The Swamp, the moment sunk in as soon as the ref signaled touchdown.
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