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It's official now: apart from McKenzie Milton, from UCF, we do not have a legitimate fourth-in-command across the state of Florida – academic or professional.
Felepe Franks, take a seat next to Jameis Winston, Blake Bortles, Ryan Tannehill, Francois Deondre, Malik Rosier and N'Kosi Perry.
Much to the delight of many Gators fans, Franks – the much-maligned UF quarterback – was chosen in favor of Kyle Trask in the terrible defeat of 38-17 Florida against Missouri on Saturday.
Before last season, the former UF receiver, Lee McGriff, radio color analyst for UF football matches, told me that Trask was the best quarterback in training. Here we are now 18 months, two head coaches, two offensive coordinators and another Franks bench later, and maybe McGriff was always right.
Trask's performance in leading the Gators to a relatively senseless touchdown in his first practice of the match briefly ignited local fans and was the only quality that buys Saturday's dismal loss to a Missouri team that was previously without victory in front of the SEC. Trask scored 10 of his 18 goals for a total of 126 yards and a touchdown, and each successful pass was applauded as if he had just finished the winning match against Alabama.
In all other respects, Florida's performance has been catastrophic and embarrassing.
The UF offensive scored only 17 points on a defense ranked 86th in the country.
Florida's defense has been reduced to 900 yards and 74 points over the past two weeks.
The UF program has been destroyed by Missouri – a team below the SEC – by a combined score of 83-33 the past two seasons.
What happened to this team on behalf of Jim McElwain?
Florida was ranked # 9 in the country before losing to Georgia last week and it was said that the Gators may have had an outside chance to qualify for the college football playoffs. Eight days later, they might not even be as good as FSU.
"It's a hard reality for us as a team," said Gators coach Dan Mullen.
When asked what was left for his troubled team, Mullen became animated and agitated.
"They score points; somebody wins and some loses, "he said. "I do not care what we do. You want to beat my thumb now, I'm going to kick your ass. You want to go running in the stadiums, I'll kick your ass. If you want to keep points and someone will win and lose, I want to beat your ass. If we do not have that attitude in the locker room, you have a problem. "
Obviously, the Gators have many problems now, and it is up to Mullen to solve them.
He was hired to breathe life into a comatose offense.
He was hired to make Florida football fun again.
He said that he was going to do Saturdays at Swamp a roaring and rough mix of a football match, a national fair, a rock concert and a Broadway show.
If it was a Broadway show, he should have called Phantom of the Offense.
The Swamp was a horror house back from Halloween and Franks was the master of ceremonies. The critics for him started in the first period as he continued his penchant for sailing over the heads of his receivers.
The boos are not exactly what you want to hear when returning home, but Franks is used to it. Gators fans have ravaged him on social media since last season, and the student newspaper has announced that he will only make two games against him this season.
There was hope that Mullen, the quarterback's whisperer, could play his magic on Franks, who was in trouble under McElwain last season. Franks, although far from dazzling, seemed to gradually improve with every game until the loss to Georgia last week, when he was a pedestrian 13-pass 21-pass for 105 yards with a costly breakaway and horrible interception.
Mullen said on Saturday that he had not dropped Franks, probably because Franks looked like a phenomenal quarterback. At 6 feet 6 inches and 240 pounds, he is tall, strong and surprisingly mobile for a quarter of his size. And the strength of his arm is indisputable. He can throw the ball one and a half kilometers, but the problem is he has trouble passing 10-yard passes.
The difference between Franks (9 assists on 22 for 84 yards and no touchdown) and Missouri's Drew Lock (24 passes on 32 for 250 yards and three touchdowns) was like the gap between Tom Brady and Jameis Winston. Franks is really the academic version of Winston and Bortles in that he is extremely talented but incredibly inaccurate.
Mullen said he was not sure yet whether Franks or Trask would start next week against former Gators coach, Will Muschamp, and his South Carolina Gamecocks. Ironically, Muschamp was fired against UF, partly because he had never really found a quarter he could count on.
Four years and three main coaches later, research continues.
Write to me at [email protected]. Hit me on Twitter @BianchiWrites and listen to my Open Mike radio show every day of the week from 6 am to 9 am on FM 96.9 and AM 740.
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