2020’s top plays for Heisman Finalist Kyle Trask

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Kyle Trask has been named a Heisman Trophy finalist.

Whether he wins the award or not, that is a huge accomplishment for Trask. And lots of people will point towards his high school situation or his situation at Florida s reasons. But I’m talking about where he came from last year to this year.

Last year, Trask was a good QB. I expected him to get better, but I didn’t expect this. Instead, Trask became the best QB in the SEC, and was a big reason that the Gators were in the running for the Colleg Football Playoff.

So sit back, relax and enjoy what I picked out as the best throws from each game this season from Heisman-finalist, Gators QB Kyle Trask.

Ole Miss

Trask announced he was going to be a force with a 416-yard performance to open the season against Ole Miss. But it was this play that I think exemplified that the Gators had something special at the QB position in 2020.

On this play, Trask thinks he has Kyle Pitts one-on-one versus a safety. But Ole Miss drops one of its linebackers right into the zone where Trask wanted to hit Pitts. Trask pulls the ball down and Pitts wins a scramble drill, but this could have very easily been an interception had Trask not identified the defense.

South Carolina

Trask was showing he could quickly read a defense, but one of the places he struggled in 2019 was his pocket awareness. That led to a bunch of fumbles, particularly against Tennessee and Auburn.

 

On this play, Trask helps running back Nay’Quan Wright by moving to his right to avoid the blitzing linebacker. This isn’t a great blitz pick-up by Wright, but the shift by Trask allows him to get the throw off to Pitts for a first down.

Texas A&M

This was a terrible throw. You would never teach this. You would never tell your QB that this was ever acceptable. Still, it indicated a supreme confidence that Trask had in his abilities. Up until this point, Trask was just trying to make the right play. At this point, it became clear he was going to go for it when he thought he had someone open, which is what you expect a Heisman-level QB to do.

Just look as Trask roles to his right. Malik Davis is wide open for a first down, if not a touchdown. Trask sees him because he’s looking right at him. But instead, he whips his head to the back of the formation and throws across his body back to Pitts. Pitts can’t get to the ball, but this is a throw that only the most supremely confident QB will make. I know Trask got yelled at for this when he got back to the sideline. I don’t care. We haven’t seen that kind of moxie from a QB in Gainesville in a long time.

Missouri

So we’ve seen Trask see a zone-blitz and adjust, we’ve seen him shift in the pocket to avoid the rush and we’ve seen him chuck it up with abandon. But it wasn’t until Missouri that he really got going and started showing the tools that truly make him special.

Trask does two things here. Pre-snap, he identified that the deep safety was shaded over towards Kyle Pitts side. He then looks that way immediately upon getting the snap, drawing the safety over further. Trask never had any intention of going to Pitts on this play (unless the safety did something stupid). Instead, he moved the safety with his eyes to open up the middle for Jacob Copeland.

Georgia

This was the game all Florida fans had circled on their calendars. It should have been circled for Dan Mullen and his team as well. It certainly looked that way as the team came out fairly tentative and was quickly down 14-0. After tying the game at 14, Trask dropped back and threw a pick-six that happened because Xzavier Henderson ran the wrong route. It looked like all of the Gators momentum had vanished.

 

I can’t pick just one play, because Florida immediately went on a 2-play, 75-yard drive to tie the game, and break the proud Georgia defense’s spirit.

On the first play, Trask again hit a running back on a wheel route, this time Nay’Quan Wright. But Wright wasn’t freed up by Trask, but rather a “rub” by wide receiver Jacob Copeland. Copeland got in the way of linebacker Monty Rice and safety Lewis Cine came up aggressively to help on Copeland, which left plenty of room for Wright to run once he caught the ball. Of course, none of this is possible unless Trask makes a perfect throw.

On the very next play, Georgia was in a single-high safety look Cine as the deep man. Perhaps Cine was caught looking at Wright going out for a route again. Trask does hold him with his eyes a little bit. But the result is that Pitts is again in one-on-one coverage against Tyson Campbell. Campbell is 6’2”, 185 pounds. Pitts is 6’6” and 246 pounds. That’s a mismatch and a perfect pass, and the game was tied at 21.

Arkansas

This was the game where Trask confirmed he’s made “the leap.” The win against Georgia proved Trask could win the big game. His play against Arkansas confirmed he was ready for the next level.

Fans might compare this to the touchdown throw Trask made at the end of the second quarter to Trevon Grimes to put Florida up 38-21 against Georgia a week earlier, but what they’re missing is that this throw comes from the left hash to the right corner while the throw to Grimes came from the right hash to the right corner.

This is an NFL throw. Shorter isn’t open. Trask just puts the ball in a location where only Shorter can catch it on an absolute frozen rope.

It’s an incredible catch by Shorter (so much so that Trevon Grimes got penalized for coming down to celebrate from the sideline). But this isn’t a throw Trask would have attempted last year, let alone been able to pull off. It’s also one that scouts will look at when they decide where Mr. Trask is going to be drafted.

Vanderbilt

Florida continued winning by two or three touchdowns, much to the chagrin of the fan base, who wanted 50-point wins. But Trask kept putting up numbers and executing highlight-reel plays.

Remember the days under Muschamp and McElwain? If Florida got the ball at the 1-yard line, even with a lead, it was immediately a run play. With Trask at the helm, those days were over.

Florida lines up with two tight ends to the strong side, Keon Zipperer on the inside and Kemore Gamble right next to him. By having two tight ends in the game, it forces Vanderbilt to play its base defense, which means that if they sent out both tight ends out, one of them will get a linebacker in coverage.

Zipperer runs straight up the field towards the Vanderbilt safety. Zipperer essentially runs a wheel route towards the sideline. Trask makes a great throw, over the linebacker hitting Gamble right in stride. This is a throw that if there’s too much air under it allows the safety to come over and break it up. If there isn’t enough, it could easily become a pick-six for the underneath linebacker.

The footwork is impeccable. He holds the safety with his eyes even though he knows he’s throwing to Gamble the whole time. It’s just gorgeous QB play.

Kentucky

The Kentucky game felt like an opportunity for Florida to flex its muscles. In fact, if Trask doesn’t win the Heisman, this might be the one he looks back on as the reason why. His stats are still great (21-27, 256 yards, 3 TD), but Florida was down 10-7 until a Kadarius Toney punt return put them up for good right before the half. Another 400-yard performance with 4 or 5 TDs would have really separated Trask from the pack.

Still, you can excuse the Gators for maybe thinking this would be easy after the opening drive led to this. Trask sees the safety in the middle of the field (#22). The minute that safety turns his back to Pitts, the ball is going there.

The read is a pretty standard one. But notice two things about the throw. First, it had enough zip that the safety couldn’t get back in the play. It was on Pitts’ hands in a flash. Second, it was absolutely perfectly placed. Pitts didn’t have to break stride at all and so it was an easy touchdown.

Tennessee

Florida was only up on the Volunteers 10-7 when they took over with 2:38 remaining in the first half. As was the case in just about every game this season, Trask led them down for a TD. But it was the way he did it in this one that impressed me.

This is a third-and-3. You’d understand if Trask tried to take an underneath route to try and get a first down. Instead, he sees the corner sit on that underneath route and fires a rope to Pitts on the sideline. Note that he was off-balance when he made that throw, giving a giant middle finger to those who were still contending he didn’t have the arm strength to be an elite signal caller.

LSU

This one still hurts. The Gators had a chance to go into the SEC Championship Game on a 7-game winning streak and instead fell to an undermanned LSU. Yes, Trask threw two interceptions and had a fumble. But he also threw for 474 yards and 2 TDs, plus 2 rushing TDs as well.

One of the things we don’t often display for Trask is his knack for having the right touch for the right throw. Over the middle or against a zone near the sideline, you really need to zip the ball in. But on this play – down two scores in the third quarter – Trask doesn’t press. Instead, he shuffles around the pocket to give himself enough time for the play to develop, and then delivers a floater to Kadarius Toney to set the Gators up deep in LSU territory.

Alabama

Trask’s play against Alabama was sublime. To go 26-40 for 408 yards with 3 TDs throwing and another rushing is the main reason the Gators were in this game. And his best throw against Alabama may not be the best throw of his career, but it gave Florida hope when they were reeling after going into the half down 35-17.

There’s only a minute and a half gone in the third quarter. Florida has both Toney and Pitts on the strong side of the formation, along with Trevon Grimes. Trask sees the double-team on Toney and knows he has Grimes one-on-one.

This is a brave throw. If it’s picked off, all of the wind is knocked out of Florida’s sails. Patrick Surtain is the Alabama player in coverage, who was just named to the first team All American team for CBS. Of course, Trask was named to that same first team as well, and trusting that if he put the ball up where Grimes could high-point it is just a great decision.

This is months and months of running this route in practice. This is Trask knowing exactly where to put the ball. This is a great play by Grimes, but supreme trust between receiver and QB.

Takeaway

Kyle Trask had an amazing 2020 season. I picked one play for each game (except Georgia), but it was a really difficult decision to pick just one for each game.

That’s what happens when you have five games over 400-yards passing. That’s what happens when you have seven games with at least 4 TDs. That’s what happens when you complete 70 percent of your throws against SEC-only competition and average 10.1 yards per attempt.

It’s been a while since we’ve had this kind of QB play in Gainesville. Maybe Dan Mullen is a magic man and gets the same type of performance out of Emory Jones or Anthony Richardson moving forwards. I think those two are going to be really good.

But I hope we don’t take for granted how good we’ve had it the past two years – and especially this year – with Kyle Trask. His story isn’t amazing because he didn’t play in high school or waited his turn.

His story is amazing because he has played well enough to win the Heisman Trophy.

Merry Christmas

Though I think their intentions are normally good, I also think often Christians have a poor approach when trying to reach people who haven’t read the Gospel, especially at Christmas and Easter.

I’m also not sure that getting someone to read the Gospel should be the goal.

If you’re open to exploring your faith, you likely aren’t going to be convinced of Christianity or the divinity of Christ by someone reciting the nativity scene to you from the book of Luke or Matthew. It’s a wonderful story, but for someone just engaging the possibility of faith, it’s a story that requires a significant jump in belief that I’m not sure many people have the capacity for.

I certainly didn’t.

Back in 2012, I was reading a book called “The ONE Thing: The surprisingly simple truth behind extraordinary results.” The main thesis is that the scientific literature seems to be conclusive that focusing on one thing intensely is much more effective than trying to multi-task.

I was discussing it at lunch with a friend who is a Christian (I wasn’t at the time), who told me that was interesting because I could have come to the same conclusion had I just read the book of Nehemiah.

I went home and opened my Bible for probably the first time in a decade.

Sure enough, the story of Nehemiah is about a man who has it made as the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes but instead decides to lead the rebuilding of a wall around Jerusalem. His enemies continue to try and distract him, but each time he responds with “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down (to the villages in the plain of Ono).”

I started looking for those sorts of connections. Where does the scientific literature or my life experience match what I would have known had I read the Bible instead?

For me, the next step was finances. Proverbs says, “The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.” At the time, we had purchased a house that was too big for us thinking we would grow into it. We were already feeling the pinch of not being able to save for college because of the debt we’d taken on.

That initial exploration has led me to read skeptics and apologetics alike (The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and Language of God by Francis Collins are good places to start for the science-inclined). And when we finally decided to start attending church and specifically joined a group, I didn’t find those people to be judgmental about my questioning, but rather welcoming that I was challenging them in a way that made them come up with answers for their own faith.

There was one thing early-on that Northpoint pastor Andy Stanley said that really stuck with me. He said, “If you want to change someone’s life, hurt them deeply or love them profoundly.”

Some of you are spending time with people today and will have that choice to make. I pray that you error on the side of love.

Merry Christmas.