MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.-- As Kyle Trask enjoyed celebrating the Orange Bowl victory with his teammates, a young boy called out for him.

"Can I have an autograph?"

Trask quickly obliged the young Gator fan and quickly found others waiting for an autograph or a selfie.

It was a surreal moment for a former backup quarterback.

Trask went from an unknown back-up to Florida's heralded starter in just a few short months.

"It means the world. I always wanted to do incredible things in football and I got the chance to do it today," Trask told Gators Territory after UF's win over Virginia on Monday night. "I couldn't be more thankful for my team to have my back when I went into the Kentucky game. We just continued to grow, grind and get better every week. And now here we are winning the Orange Bowl, it's amazing."

It was the perfect NBC TV show script.

The backup quarterback, who hadn't started a game since his freshman season of high school, would lead the Gators to 11 wins for only the eighth time in program history. He would lead the team to a New Year's Six Bowl win.

A back-up quarterback who finished the season by completing 67% of his passes for 2,901 yards and 24 touchdowns (plus three rushing touchdowns); a back-up quarterback that went on to post four 300-yard passing games in a season, a feat that was last accomplished at Florida in 2004 by Chris Leak.

Dan Mullen was emotional when he spoke about Trask's journey.

"As a college coach, you want to help develop young men become successful, not just in football, you want to help them build a foundation to be successful in life," said the Gators head coach. "You know, when you see a guy do it all the right way and learn how to do things the right way, I think that's really special, and it's something that I think you've got to embrace and I think that's something young people have to learn from, how to do things the right way, how to be successful in life. Just a great lesson for people to learn from."

It was not the sharpest performance for Trask but the signal caller had an all-around good night going 24-for-39 for 305 yards, a touchdown and interception in the game.

"I think even his interception was a really good throw. Kid made a heck of a play off of the ball, broke on it, so I thought he made great decisions, managed," Mullen said about Trask's performance. "They gave a lot of different looks. They were dropping a lot of guys into coverage. He did a great job checking us into the right plays, managing the game through four quarters. But you know what, that's what he's done all year.I think if a young person wants a role model, they can look to the guy to my left right now. A guy that maybe life didn't seem to be going maybe the way you want it to go in high school, but you know what, he still was given an opportunity, worked his tail off and was given an opportunity."

Prior to the game, Florida senior Van Jefferson told GT that Trask's progress was no accident. Jefferson often saw the signal caller in the film room picking apart his game.

"He is in the film room all the time," said Jefferson. "He picks one detail he needs to get better and he improves on it. It’s a testament to his hard work and his dedication and him being a quarterback at Florida.”

One play against the Cavaliers demonstrated the progress.

It was far from a pretty pitch, but it was a pitch that helped the Gators solidify their win and halt Virginia's second half momentum.

With less than ten minutes to go, Florida was holding on to a 33-21 lead but was now facing a fourth-and-1 situation. Mullen decided to trust Trask and his offense.

Trask drew the defense towards him then pitched to Lamical Perine to his left, who ran for two yards and the first down.

"We checked to that," explained Mullen. "Good check on the play. Went up to the line of scrimmage, they had everybody pinned inside, he checked to the pitch to the outside because they had everybody lined up inside. It was a great check by Kyle, great job by Lamical, obviously a veteran player knowing what he needed to do to get the 1st down and all those things. You're at that moment, you have 4th-and-1, we felt comfortable, felt like we should be able to get that yard, and if not, our defense playing hard, they make plays and we've been aggressive all year long."

Mullen never doubted Trask's ability.

"He spends a lot of time in preparation," stated Mullen. "[QB coach] Brian Johnson obviously does an amazing job getting him ready for the different situations and different looks. Those moments, those are key moments in a game. And so you know, we have situations, we have plays we want to get into in those key moments, and a lot of times you want to make sure you're getting in the best play possible.

"You don't want to run a bad play with the game on the line, so he knows the different looks of what we want to run what plays to and is able to get us into the right play."

Mullen had faith that Trask would do the right thing in a big moment - that is the type of growth Trask has had this season.

"This is why you come to play college football at a school like Florida is to have all the responsibilities that come with starting," said Trask. "A lot more responsibilities.. t's given me a lot more experience and a lot more confidence on the field and things like that."

"Kyle has been really successful this year in football, but I think those traits will show you that whether football, whenever football, whenever the football career ends for him, whenever that is, he's still going to be successful in life because of who he is and the type of man he is," said an emotional Mullen.

A man that stops his celebration with his teammates to sign a few autographs with a young boy, who is meeting his hero for the first time.

"I take great pride in being a role model for these kids. It's kind of the Gator Standard. Everybody on the team should strive to be role models."