Florida Football: How does the offense change without Franks

On Saturday night the Florida football team was caught in an SEC battle. Kentucky came out hard and wanted to prove last year was not a fluke.

Feleipe Franks was having a decent night but deep into the third quarter, they were down 21-10. Then on a critical fourth down late in the third Franks goes down.

The game changed, and Franks was carted off at the 3:21 mark, and in came Kyle Trask.

Florida football, Franks offense

Feleipe Franks has taken a lot of criticism over the first three games for his play. The Florida football QB has had plenty of success this season. Before the Kentucky game, he had thrown for over 500 yards (524) in the first two games and ended both with a win.

Franks had also been very careful with the ball as well, he only had two interceptions up till this game.

Dan Mullen‘s offense has multiple actions out of very similar sets. Meaning that they line up in the same formations only to run different plays. This type of system the QB to read the defense prior to the snap and more important right after.  He must see that backside defensive end or linebacker and make the read.

It requires the offensive line to not let penetration happen and the backs to hit the hole fast. When you look at Franks season to think what he has done, it is remarkable. The line improved against UT-Martin and it showed, the offense ran great as Franks had all the time he needed.

Franks was 12-of-17 passing for 174 yards with one touchdown, an interception and a fumble before he left the game with the injury. Not a stellar performance but the line was just getting manhandled. What had been wrong with the offense while Franks was under center was not all Franks. Props to him for what he did with his time and we hope he recovers quickly.

The offense with Trask

Before Saturday night Trask had only thrown 5 times and completed 4 of them for 40 yards. As well as against Kentucky, he went  9-for-13  for 126 yards. In both games he was in, the line stepped up, gave him the time and he made the right reads. That is the thing with Mullen’s system once you learn the ins and outs it makes it easier, as Dan states;

"“I explained this to our offensive guys, it might not always be the easiest to learn, but once you got it, you got it and it’s a lot easier to use,” Mullen said. “We’re very multiple in what we do, but not always complicated, if that makes sense.”"

Trask has been around and knows the system and it showed Saturday night. He stepped up and ran that offense to the tune of three touchdowns in just over a quarter of play. The option he ran and pitched for the first score after Franks injury was a perfect example of how to read the play and knowing when to make the move.

Again, this offense depends on the O line to stop penetration and in those first three-quarters Saturday night that line was not on. The running game suffered and the pressure on Franks was hard all night. But after Franks went down it all turned around. The line starting hitting hard, the backs hit the holes and Trask was as accurate as he needed to be.

Will the offense change?

How will the Florida offense change without Franks? In a simple answer, it won’t change. The offense will be run by Trask with the same precision as Franks did. As Mullen says;

"“Kyle was waiting for his moment,” Mullen told ESPN. “The team believes in him and we believe he’s a starter just like Feleipe is. … There was never a doubt he could do the job.” Next: Gators lose Franks, beat Kentucky"

Florida football will be fine and the offense will keep on rolling and getting better. Next up Tennessee, and Trask will be ready.