With the first full scrimmage under their belts, the Florida Gators two quarterback front-runners and their offensive linemen met with the media Friday evening. Following a day when the defense flexed their muscle, there was a general consensus among the offensive players—progress has been made, but there’s still a long way to go to be ready for the fall. The offense did look markedly better in the second half however, when a majority of their points were scored.
Feleipe Franks
The redshirt sophomore went 7-of-22 for 127 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions on the day. Timing with his receivers still has a ways to go, but one of his issues from 2017—pocket presence—does seem to be improving. On one of the last drives of the day, with the rain at a steady pace and defensive end Jachai Polite bearing down on him quickly, Franks stood in the pocket and delivered an 80-yard touchdown pass to Trevon Grimes. He had to watch from the ground, where Polite had knocked him to, but he saw the receiver haul in Franks second touchdown pass of the day for a nice motivational moment moving forward.
During an eight-minute interview, Franks used the phrase “stepping stone” seven times. It’s how he sees each practice, including Friday’s scrimmage, as he and the Gators immerse themselves in a new system.
On positives and negatives of the day: “There is going to be highs and there is going to be lows. It's a new offense. It's like when I first got here I was clueless when coach Nuss was here - not knowing what the new offense was. It's the same thing. Starting all over again. Like I said, there are going to be highs and lows. It's part of the game. Everyone expects it to go like this the whole way (moves arm up) but it's not like that. New offense, rainy conditions...what we really look for is our effort and our effort was there. Learning the circumstances: third down you need to get a first down, how many yards you want on first down and things like that. We are getting there and we definitely will be there for the first game.”
Confidence from back-to-back big completions (2 passes for 63 yards and a touchdown): “I mean it boost your confidence, you get something going, get a little energy going cause that's what it's all about. I mean once you get momentum like that, especially in a game you know it's hard to stop. But you know it was definitely good for us for the offense. Once we created that, once I hit Van on the little post route and then Moral, that's how momentum's created and then you know the offense went up from there. So that's how it works, momentum's pretty hard to stop.”
On playing in the rain: “The rainy circumstances, that’s what you come out here and do. Coach Mullen put us in these kind of situations. It definitely raining on a Saturday this season. Just keep on pushing, that’s all we really can do.”
Kyle Trask
Trask went Trask 12-of-18 for 182 yards, three touchdowns and an interception for the day. Injuries and uncertainty of game performances have kept Trask from being a viable candidate for the starting quarterback, until now. As spring practice first began, much of Trask’s performance seemed reminiscent of his past springs—promising but not sustainable. Yet as practice has continued and the redshirt sophomore has been put in more and more game situations, he’s stayed calm and become a legitimate threat to unseat Franks.
On mindset and spring as a whole so far: “I think I came out here with the mind-set of just stay locked in and focus on time and try to execute at a high level…from the past injuries, I’m just trying to make it a big part of my routine to get in the training room, just stay healthy. Also make sure I get the plays down. New playbook, new system, new coach, everything. Just come in every day and have a good routine, make sure I’ve got everything down.”
On confidence he will win starter job: “In the end, I feel like I’m doing a good job, doing all I can do. In the end, it’s up to Coach Mullen and his staff…that’s not my call. That’s Coach Mullen’s call.”
On his knowledge of the offense: “I ran spread in high school, so it’s similar to that. Kind of like a spread style, use speed to our advantage.”
And how that helps now: “Terminology a little bit. Also having seen the looks before with the read option, plays like that. Spread it out. Get the ball in their hands, let guys with speed make plays.”
On playing in the rain: “It’s fun. This is the good stuff.”
The Offensive Line
The line noticeably struggled in the first half against a defense that is faster and stronger. They had trouble maintaining the edge and holding up the pocket for their passers. As the day went on, they were able to find a better groove together but they know there’s more to work on and it’s crucial to the team’s success.
Martez Ivey on need for O-line for the team: “They go as we go. So if we come out slow, the whole offense is going to come out slow. We have the most guys on the field. We got five guys out there, so if we don’t got no energy nobody else is going to have no energy around us. It starts with us, so up front it’s our job to get everything going.”
Ivey on last chance for some linemen: “When you say last chance, Tyler’s a senior, Fred’s a senior, Jawaan it’s his junior year … everybody else either has experience, but for me and like for Fred and for Tyler it is our last chance. Our last chance to get it right. Last chance to, you know, do what we came here to do. We didn’t come here to go 4-7. We came here to compete for championships and win a championship. I mean, that’s my mindset, that’s there mindset, it should be everybody’s mindset around here. And I think this new coaching staff and coach Mullen he came in and he like told us, man, it’s the University of Florida. When he was here it was the standard. We’re getting that standard back. We got expectations. It’s not just win SEC East, it’s to win the whole SEC. Then it’s to go to a playoff game, then it’s to go for that national championship. We’re the University of Florida that’s the expectation. That’s what the fans expects, that’s what we should expect, too.”
TJ McCoy on next step for the line: “Coach Hevesy, he's been really big on fundamentals and technique. I'd say just us being fundamentally sound. You know, we've got a new offense, most of our install is done and now it's just knowing how to do it, the different techniques. Coach Hevesy's really big, really big about technique. In my opinion he's Coach Savage on steroids when it comes to technique. He's a very intense guy, and he's really big on us doing the thing right, doing everything right. And just having the attitude and really being the protectors of this offense."
Tyler Jordan on next step for the line: “Communication. Obviously with a difference system, a different call—we have different calls and different names for different techniques and once we learn that I think we'll be able to block stuff up more efficiently and communicate more efficiently.”
The Gators are off over the Easter weekend and will return to practice Tuesday April 3.
