Kyle Trask leads No. 9 Florida to comeback victory after nasty injury to Feleipe Franks
No. 9 Florida miraculously pulled out a 29-21 road win over Kentucky, but it lost quarterback Feleipe Franks to a season-ending injury in the process.
With his team trailing 21-10, Franks was injured on a fourth-down play late in the third quarter when he got pulled down from behind. But that opened the door for backup Kyle Trask to lead an impressive comeback.
At the time of Franks’ injury, Kentucky seemed to be in complete control of the game, but Trask managed to lead fourth-quarter scoring drives of 62 and 66 yards. His four-yard touchdown run with 4:11 to play gave the Gators a 22-21 lead that they would not relinquish.
But the end of the game wasn’t without some drama. On the ensuing possession, Kentucky — also playing with a backup quarterback, Sawyer Smith — quickly advanced into Florida territory, setting up a 35-yard field goal attempt for Chance Poore with under a minute to go. But Poore’s go-ahead try sailed wide.
And as the Gators tried to run out the clock, Josh Hammond reeled off a 76-yard touchdown run to put the icing on the cake of a UF road victory.
Trask, who entered the night with 22 career pass attempts, finished the night 9-of-13 for 126 yards.
Franks carted off the field
Down 21-10 and facing a fourth-and-1 from the Kentucky 38-yard line, UF head coach Dan Mullen dialed up a play-action pass. With nobody open, Franks took off and tried to run for a first down, only for the Kentucky defense to collapse on him.
As he approached a sea of bodies near the line of scrimmage, Franks was dragged down awkwardly from behind and his right leg got caught underneath.
Franks, in his third year as UF’s starter, was in immediate discomfort and had to be carted off the field. After the game, Mullen told reporters that Franks will miss the rest of the season.
With Franks out, Florida turned to backup Kyle Trask. Franks beat out Trask for the starting job two seasons in a row.
Before the injury, Franks was 12-of-17 for 174 yards, one touchdown and one interception. From that point forward, however, Florida outscored Kentucky 19-0 en route to a come-from-behind victory.
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