Mullen pleased with Feleipe Franks' performance

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Feleipe Franks had an up and down performance in Florida's 24-20 win over Miami.

The redshirt junior threw two interceptions, missed some open receivers, yet he bounced back after one of his picks to throw a beautiful 65-yard strike to Josh Hammond, which set up the game-winning score.

"I didn't go out there and try to throw a pick," said Franks."That's not what I mean to do, it's not on our gameplan. But things happen throughout the course of the game that you don't plan for."

Franks finished throwing 17-for-27 for 254 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Social media may have been calling for Franks to be benched, but Gators head coach Dan Mullen was quite happy with the signal caller's performance.

"I was pleased with a bunch of stuff with him," Mullen said. "One of the things he knows, we're going to put the game in his hands. And there are some teachable moments in there and some things he can continue to learn. But I think he knows we have the confidence in him to make plays."

Although Franks did have stumbles along the way Saturday night, Mullen was ready and confident to dial up a big play for the signal caller.

"I don't know if I would have put him in that situation last year," Mullen said. "Hard for me to say if I did that. But I think it shows the confidence we have in his ability and our wideouts. We trust those guys. We have some good senior wideouts, some veteran guys that we trust out there on the field."

"That's what adversity is," Franks said. "It's all about just trying to persevere through those kind of things."

Franks did his job. He stuck with it even after things did not go his way.

"If we made a mistake, he came right back firing. There wasn't a hesitation," said Mullen. "There wasn't concern or lack of confidence in him in what he was going to do.

"I think that shows his maturity and how he's continued to come back and grown in this off season," Mullen added. "Just play the next play and let's go."

"I think Feleipe is going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the country when it’s all said and done," said wide receiver Van Jefferson. " That just shows his character, that just shows his mindset and how mentally strong he is. For him to do that and bounce back, it was great to see. "

"I try to grow. I try to become a better player every day, become the best person and best football player," said Franks. "And I just try to be a great leader to my teammates, be a great encourager."

Has Franks' confidence grown enough to shake off the criticism he is sure to get this week?

We will have to wait and see.