GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Kyle Trask waited patiently for his moment.

And when his number was called, Trask did what he needed to do to secure his team the win.

"It’s amazing that he had the character and the readiness to go prepare and be ready for that moment," said Gators head coach Dan Mullen. " All of his actions that led up to be ready to play in that game showed he had that kind of character with all of the decisions he made leading up to that.”

Trask rallied the Gators to a win against Kentucky by going 9-of-13 for 126 yards, and rushing for a four-yard touchdown.

His performance and poise did not shock his Florida teammates.

"I seen he was a big guy who sits in the pocket, not afraid to move around a little bit," said defensive end Jonathan Greenard. "He makes good reads and I knew he had all the intangibles to be a starting quarterback.

"At this point I was waiting on him to get over his ankle or foot injury in the spring," added Greenard. "I was waiting for him to get healthy so he could get his time to shine. Like you seen on Saturday, I mean he was ready when his number was called up due to some unfortunate circumstances. I knew he was a great quarterback and just waiting to get his time.”

Trask did take every opportunity.

The redshirt junior will provide a different dynamic to the offense. He is a bit more of a pocket passer compared to his predecessor, Feleipe Franks.

"I want to say that Feleiepe has a really strong arm; Kyle's arm isn't as strong. But I think Kyle definitely isn't afraid to throw the ball," said wide receiver Josh Hammond. "I want to say he's probably just a little bit more decisive than Feleipe can be at times. I think that's probably the biggest difference between the two, and he doesn't run as much.

"Feleipe will tuck it and run. Kyle probably won't tuck it and run as much as Feleipe would. But both guys, Coach Mullen does a good job of putting them in the situations that they do well at. Kyle is more of a gunslinger guy than Feleiepe is."

“He plays physical. He plays hard," said Mullen about Trask. "He’s not going to have to a dynamic guy, where it’s like, wow look at the shake and the spin move and what he just put on somebody right there. But he’s 240 pounds, big and physical and he’s not afraid to run the ball, and he’s competitive. And he has really good pocket mobility with the ability to move to improvise to create to extend, he’s pretty comfortable doing that."

I would say he is pretty comfortable with that.

In the fourth quarter, with the game on the line, Trask stepped back and quickly saw pressure. The quarterback soon found a defender in his face, but with a little slide, he made the throw down the middle to Kyle Pitts for a 30-yard gain. Two plays later, Trask would score the go-ahead touchdown.

“I think he was very decisive," said wide receiver Josh Hammond. "I think he came into the game, and he knew where he was going to go with the ball, and there was no second-guessing about ‘Should I do it? Should I do it not?’ He got the ball out pretty quick and he wasn’t afraid to let it sling a little bit.

"Coach Mullen did a good job keeping calls pretty simple in the first play to come out and throw a hitch just to kind of get warmed up and get a feel for the game. I think he came out and played at a really high level, just being able to execute and be really decisive on where he wanted to go with the ball.”

For the first time since he was a freshman in high school, Trask is expected to start a football game.

"I feel like he is ready, man. I believe in him," said linebacker David Reese.