Trask calls '18 Missouri game a 'huge moment' in his career
Missouri travels to the Swamp on Saturday for the first time since 2018, when the unranked Tigers spoiled homecoming with a 38-17 win over No. 13 Florida.
It was the low point in Dan Mullen’s inaugural season at UF, but there was one bright spot in the lopsided loss: Kyle Trask.
After the Gators opened the second half with a pair of three-and-outs and Mizzou scored on its first two drives to take a 35-10 lead, Mullen benched starter Felepe Franks.
“I remember that," Trask recalled this week. “I think he said, ‘If they score this drive’ or something, ‘just be ready to go in’ basically. And he threw me in there.”
It was the first real opportunity for Trask, who had only played in mop-up duty against CSU and the final series at Tennessee. But with five minutes left in the third quarter and Florida facing a four-score deficit, he wasn’t checking into the Missouri game to hand the ball off.
“I felt comfortable in my ability when I went out there to be able to drive the ball down the field,” Trask said.
He completed his first attempt to Van Jefferson for 10 yards, followed by back-to-back passes to Josh Hammond for 20 and 9 yards. Trask kept the series alive on fourth-and-3 from the 22-yard-line, finding Trevon Grimes for 13 yards to set up first-and-goal.
“He came in there and he controlled the game. His number was called, and he was ready,” running back Malik Davis said of Trask. “We pretty much knew what he could do, but he just had to go on the field and show everyone else.”
Mullen went for it again on fourth-and-goal from the 7, and Trask threw off his back foot to hit a diving Hammond over the middle for his first career touchdown pass. He led the Gators on a 13-play, 75-yard scoring drive and threw for 59 yards on 5-of-8 passing.
“The biggest thing is it highlighted just how well he prepares,” offensive coordinator Brian Johnson said of Trask’s TD possession against Missouri. “You knew what you could call whatever in the game plan and he would be able to execute it.
“Because we’ve seen him so much in practice, there was never really any doubt in terms of how he would do when he got out there on the field. He’s an extremely intelligent guy. He works really hard. He’s a really good football player.”
Trask didn’t find the end zone in the fourth quarter, but made a strong case to be the starter moving forward. On first down from his own 2, he launched a 45-yard deep ball to Kadarius Toney and later moved the chains with an impressive 10-yard strike to Grimes.
Trask finished the night with 126 yards on 10-of-18 passing.
“That was a huge moment for me, honestly,” Trask said. “Obviously we wanted to win that game, which we didn’t. But I think it was huge for me, because previously I hadn’t played really any meaningful snaps against any meaningful opponents.
“So I think that was just a good experience to have under my belt, that I can play at this level and compete with an SEC opponent. Moving forward, I think that did a lot for my confidence.”
Franks, meanwhile, completed just nine of 22 attempts for 84 yards before getting benched against Missouri, prompting Mullen to open up the quarterback competition for the South Carolina game. But during Wednesday’s practice that following week, Trask broke his foot while running a trick play and was done for the year.
Franks’ injury last season would open the door again for Trask, who led the Gators to a comeback victory at Kentucky and has been the starter since. His performance two years ago against Mizzou was no fluke.
“You just look at his career of him being able to come off the bench and be prepared for those moments,” Mullen said of Trask. “He kind of prepared when he wasn’t a starter to be ready to go to get on the field and when he got his opportunities he showed that he was ready to go do that.
“When he became the starter, he did a great job of preparing for each game each week so that when Saturday comes he’s ready to go play at an extremely high level and give everything that he has on the field.”