Florida owns the fourth quarter to pull out the win against Kentucky

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Up by 11 points, facing a fourth-and-1 at the Florida 39-yard line to open the fourth quarter, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops decided to try and put the Gators away and go for it.

A direct snap to running back A.J. Rose was stuffed by Florida linebacker David Reese, and all of a sudden, Florida had the stop that they needed.

From that point forward, Florida dominated, outgaining Kentucky 222-81 and outscoring the Wildcats 19-0.

Plenty of people are going to point to Kyle Trask as the reason that Florida won the game. And make no mistake, Trask’s performance in relief of an injured Feleipe Franks is a big reason the Gators came out on top.

But the defense’s ability to hold on that fourth down – and for most of the rest of the fourth quarter – is why Trask even had a chance.

When Kentucky kicker Chance Poore pushed his 35-yard field goal wide right, Gators fans could finally breathe easy.

Somehow, they’d gotten out of Lexington with a win.

Florida Offense

Feleipe Franks’ season ended in a way that is symbolic of his entire career at Florida.

Between the ESPN announcers talking about nonexistent “off-field issues”, his bizarre decision to throw one up for grabs on the opening drive and the fumble in Kentucky territory when the entire right side of his offensive line missed blocks, Franks’ performance was what it has always been: polarizing.

Florida’s offense moved the ball in the first half. In fact, the Gators moved the ball way better than the seven points on the scoreboard would indicate.

In the second quarter alone, the Gators averaged 8.0 yards per play and 14.1 yards per pass attempt. It’s really hard to do that and not score at all, but that’s what Florida was able to accomplish.

That happened because Franks fumbled right after a 31-yard pass to Van Jefferson. It also happened because Evan McPherson missed a 27-yard field goal after a TD run by Franks was called back by a holding penalty. And it also happened because Florida only had two possessions in the quarter because the defense couldn’t get Kentucky off the field.

The interception was horrid. But beyond that, Franks played well. He threw for 174 yards at a 10.2 yards per attempt clip. His yards above replacement (YAR) was 1.86 for the game, which is borderline elite. But turnovers matter, and Franks’ inability to take care of the ball limited what the offense could do.

The other thing limiting the Florida offense was that the Gators just could not run the ball.

Until the 76-yard run by Josh Hammond to salt the game away, Florida only had 62 rushing yards on 26 carries (2.4 yards per rush). That gets even worse if you eliminate the rushing from Franks and Trask (17 rush for 35 yards).

Mullen likely won’t get much credit for it either, but he made some pretty interesting adjustments as the game went along.

The first was just play selection. On the first two drives of the game, Florida gave the ball to running back Lamical Perine on the first play and got stuffed both times. Every other drive of the game opened with a passing play, except for the final drive when Florida was trying to run out the clock.

But one thing I noticed on the rewatch was this little wrinkle.

You can see on this play that the left guard (Brett Heggie, #61) pulls and Lamical Perine (#2) is the lead blocker for this play. If Heggie were able to get to the linebacker and keep him off of Franks, it’s possible that Franks scores on the play.

But he’s not able to do so as linebacker Kash Daniel (#56) bounces off of Heggie and makes the tackle.

But look at how that play was changed in the second half.

I wondered how Trask was able to walk in so cleanly. Well, look at Perine. He runs to the right just like he did in the previous play. Look at the Kentucky linebackers. They both follow Perine.

Then look at Heggie. Instead of pulling he goes straight to Daniel and seals him inside after he’s taken a step towards Perine. That simple little misdirection opened up the run on a key play for the Gators.

I think moving forward, this is the kind of thing Dan Mullen is going to have to rely on. It does not appear that he is going to be able to out-physical opposing defensive fronts. You can see that on the end around to Hammond that essentially ended the game.

Here, the entire left side of the offensive line gets pushed back behind the line of scrimmage. But notice how the Kentucky linebackers do not react to Hammond at all. Instead, they are completely focused on Perine, expecting him to get the ball. Key blocks from tight ends Lucas Krull (#7) and Kyle Pitts (#84) spring him for a big gain.

But the man of the night for Florida was definitely Kyle Trask.

It looked like Trask was going to get his chance last year after Franks played poorly versus Georgia and Missouri. But then he suffered a broken foot during practice that week and it looked like he would never get his chance. That was particularly true since most assumed that redshirt freshman Emory Jones would be the backup this season since he fits more of what Mullen wants to do.

Instead, it was Trask running out on the field after Franks’ gruesome injury. Had he been ineffective, this might have been his last chance. Instead, if the Gators go to a big-time bowl game this year, they may look at this game as the time when Trask saved their season.

On the initial drive, Kentucky seemed content to play back a little bit and see what Trask could do. Trask was happy to oblige, hitting Van Jefferson and Josh Hammond for completions of 8, 14, 20 and 12 yards before the option play to Perine for the TD.

Kentucky tightened things up a bit on the second drive and were able to hold Florida to a punt. Even in this case though, Trask was able to flip the field as the Gators started at their own four yard line and Tommy Townsend’s punt pinned Kentucky at its own eight yard line.

Coming out for his third drive of the half, I had just made the comment on the Own the Fourth Quarter show that Florida had gone away from tight end Kyle Pitts after targeting him repeatedly in the first quarter (3 receptions for 33 yards).

Well, Trask decided to target him and this was his most impressive throw of the night.

Trask recognizes that with the safeties backpedaling, Kentucky is in a zone. He’s reading Kentucky linebacker Kash Daniel (#56). If Daniel sticks with Grimes (#9), he throws to Pitts (#84). If Daniel sinks to cover Pitts, he hits Grimes.

It’s almost imperceptible, but notice how Trask slides just slightly to his left before making this throw. He felt the pressure coming from linebacker Jordan Wright (#15), who had pushed right tackle Jean Delance (#56) back into the QB.

It gives him just enough time to hit Pitts and two plays later, Florida took the lead.

Florida Defense

The Gators defense was bad for three quarters.

Florida’s defense made Kentucky QB Sawyer Smith look like a Heisman contender. They surrendered 4.9, 5.2 and 7.5 yards per play for the first three quarters.

The only time they stopped Kentucky was when Smith self-destructed, which happened twice with a dropped snap on the opening drive and a red-zone interception on the opening drive of the third quarter.

But then came the fourth quarter.

I already mentioned the fourth down stop to open it, but then the Gators followed that up with the only 3-and-out of the night and an interception on a jump ball by Smith.

The Gators surrendered only 3.7 yards per play in the fourth quarter, and perhaps more importantly, only allowed 3.6 yards per pass attempt from Smith in the quarter as well.

Smith went 6-13 for 47 yards in the quarter along with two INTs and finished the night with a YAR of -0.18. That’s pretty impressive considering that he entered the fourth quarter averaging 10 yards per attempt and had a YAR of 1.33.

The story going into the fourth quarter was that Sawyer Smith played like Jake Fromm. The story coming out of the quarter is that when Florida tightened the screws, he didn’t have an answer.

Part of that was the puzzling way that Florida decided to play defense in the first half.

On this play, both corners are giving the Kentucky receivers plenty of space. If you’re going to give this much space, you have to make the tackle. Marco Wilson (#3) doesn’t and so a 5-yard gain turns into 12.

But I get why they did that. Without Amari Burney in the lineup, Florida didn’t really have anyone in coverage to match up with wide receiver Ahmad Wagner. Whenever Wagner got Florida into man-on-man coverage, he was able to turn it into an explosive play (3 rec., 70 yards) or a pass interference penalty.

That forced Florida to play more zone than you typically see with a Grantham defense.

That’s fine if you can get pressure on the opposing QB. Florida was able to do that early, and it put Kentucky in a tough position.

On this play, you can see defensive end Jonathan Greenard (#58) coming off the edge untouched. Part of why he is untouched is because the running back decides to help the left side of the line and Smith gets tattooed.

Kentucky figured out how to block that afterwards.

Here the running back absolutely stones Greenard. Zuniga (playing next to Greenard) doesn’t get any push at all. And Smith is able to step into his throw and deliver a strike to tight end Justin Rigg (#83), who is a mismatch when he has linebacker David Reese (#33) on him in coverage.

Florida only managed one sack and three tackles for loss. The defense that had dominated Miami and UT-Martin looked pedestrian against Kentucky’s offensive line.

So what changed?

Well, on the 3-and-out right after Trask led Florida to a TD, cornerback Kaiir Elam gave his receiver plenty of room, but made the tackle a couple yards short of the first down forcing the punt. If you’re going to play off receivers, execution matters.

But so does the other team’s execution. On Kentucky’s next drive, Smith forced a deep throw when safety Shawn Davis lined up 10 yards off of him. Had Kentucky run a hitch, it would have been an easy first down. Instead, it was a backbreaking interception to Davis.

Takeaway

If you’ve read my stuff for any length of time, you know that I track one-score victories.

The reason I do that is because they tend to even out over time. Florida is now 2-0 for the year and has been fortunate to win each game.

Against Miami, Florida turned the ball over four times that only cost them three points, whereas Miami turned the ball over once and Florida turned it into seven. Had a pass interference flag not been picked up late, Florida probably loses.

Against Kentucky, Florida missed a field goal, two two-point conversion attempts, fumbled in enemy territory and surrendered five explosive plays. Had Kentucky been able to convert a 35-yard field goal, Florida probably loses.

If this sounds familiar, it should.

Jim McElwain went 7-1 in one-score games in his first two seasons as Gators head coach. In 2017, he added two more against Tennessee (26-20, Franks bomb) and Kentucky (28-27, missed last second field goal) before the fairy dust wore off.

The Gators lost by one point to LSU (16-17), two points to Texas A&M (17-19) and then were blown out by Georgia (7-42) and McElwain was gone.

This isn’t to say that Mullen is heading down that path. But he is now 5-0 in one-score games in his time in Gainesville. And while Miami and Kentucky may end up having good years, they aren’t even close to being in the league of Auburn, LSU or Georgia.

My fear is that the effects of average recruiting (for Florida) and attrition are starting to show.

Franks is gone for the year. Trask was able to step up in a big way, but he’s going to have to do it again against much better competition.

C.J. Henderson couldn’t go tonight, and the aggressive man-to-man schemes that Grantham is known for were used sparingly. Marco Wilson looks tentative, Kaiir Elam and the other freshmen are still green and much better QBs are waiting in the wings.

Jabari Zuniga was clearly laboring after getting injured in the first half and Florida couldn’t get to the QB or get in the backfield that much without him at full strength. Kentucky’s offensive line may be good, but Georgia’s is better.

Any more injuries and the lack of depth is really going to start to show when Florida gets into the teeth of its schedule.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m thrilled Florida pulled this one out. I’m really happy for someone like Kyle Trask, a player who stuck it out as a backup and was ready when his number was called. I’m heartbroken for Feleipe Franks, who I think was improving and got injured throwing his body around when he could have just gone down on fourth down. I think Mullen is a much better coach than McElwain.

But at some point you either start beating teams by a couple of touchdowns, or your luck runs out.

We all hoped that the 28-27 win over Kentucky in 2017 when Luke Del Rio came in to relieve Franks would kick-start the Gators season. Instead, it was a harbinger of a miserable season yet to come.

I don’t think that’s the case for 2019, at least not yet. But Florida is going to miss Franks. Yes, he could be maddeningly inconsistent and made some head scratching decisions. But regardless of how polarizing he could be with his own fan base (and Kirk Herbstreit), he was the starter for a reason.

I guess what I’m saying is that it is okay to be thrilled with this win, but still be apprehensive about what this performance means.

And that until the luck runs out, the 3-0 on the scoreboard is all that matters.

Get well soon, Feleipe

I’ve watched every game Feleipe Franks has played at Florida.

I’ve broken down his high school film before he ever played at Florida. I’ve seen him grow as a QB and have seen some of the vicious things people – including Gators fans – have said about him and to him.

I can’t imagine the kind of pressure there is on a QB who presides over a season like that 4-7 debacle in 2017. But he stood there and took the criticism, which was more than his head coach at the time was willing to do.

Through it all, Franks has never done anything but try his hardest and represent the university well. When he was quiet, people complained that he didn’t have enough competitive fire. When he expressed himself, people didn’t like that either.

The reality is that once Franks played poorly in 2017, there was a portion of the fan base that was never going to accept him as the starting QB, regardless of how well he played.

But I suspect that some of those people – at some point this season – are going to miss Feleipe Franks. I say this not because I think Kyle Trask is incapable, but because I’ve seen the growth Franks has shown both in his stats and on tape.

But none of that really matters.

It’s easy to dismiss injuries in football with the “next man up” mantra. But the reality is that Franks has suffered a serious injury that has the potential to impact his quality of life.

So I want to take this chance to wish him a speedy recovery, and to express my admiration for how he has handled the adversity that has come at him as the quarterback at the University of Florida.

I have no doubt that he will be able to handle this too.

Featured image used under Creative Commons license courtesy ensign_beedrill