Five days before the football season opener, Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen announced his starting quarterback for 2018.
He's the same player who started the Gators’ 2017 opener.
Feleipe Franks.
The redshirt sophomore from Crawfordville, FL edged out fellow sophomore Kyle Trask and freshman Emory Jones in the competition for the starting job. Mullen posed a question to reporters Monday, as he explained his decision.
RELATED CONTENT: Florida Gator Football | Where to Get Tickets, Park, and Eat on Game Day
"Right now, as we head out on the field running our offense, who's going to give us the best opportunity to win? A lot of it we.. along with QB coach Brian Johnson...felt Feleipe and some of the ability to extend plays, some of his athleticism, right now will give us the best opportunity to win games."
Mullen said the three quarterbacks made it a close competition through the first few weeks of fall practice.
“If you go by the grades, they were all right there. It was the extra little things of extending plays, the intangibles. I think they were pretty even.”
RELATED CONTENT: Restaurants Near Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville Perfect for Game Day
Franks was recruited as a pro-style quarterback, with excellent size at 6’6”, 240 pounds. But he has shown enough speed through his athleticism, that Mullen feels comfortable that he can run the coach’s spread offense. He played in all 11 games in 2017 and started eight of them. He was 3-5 as the starter and threw for 1,438 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Florida will open the season this Saturday, September 1st, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium against Charleston Southern. Kickoff is 7:30 pm.
For more Gator news and sports in Gainesville, follow contributor David Wirth on 352area. It's free!
Cover photo courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
