Winner: Feleipe Franks, quarterback
Feleipe Franks wouldn’t admit it, shyly brushing off questions about his impressive play minutes after he had walked off the field.
But his coach gladly offered an opinion.
“He’s ahead,” Jim McElwain said.
Before Friday, McElwain hinted that one quarterback had separated himself in the race to be UF’s next starter.
And during Florida’s annual spring scrimmage — as Franks completed a 46-yard pass down the right sideline on the fifth play of the game, as he led three scoring drives, and as he was pulled from the game at halftime by Florida’s coaches, who had seen all they needed to see — it was abundantly clear: The job is Franks’ to lose.
The 6-foot-6, 219-pound freshman threw for 119 yards on 8-of-14 passing on Friday. He looked poised and confident, and although one of his lone mistakes resulted in an Antonneous Clayton sack, he didn’t let it affect the rest of his game.
It was a sharp contrast from last year’s spring game, when three of Frank’s 11 passes were intercepted.
“A tremendous difference compared to a year ago,” Franks said.
Loser: Kyle Trask, quarterback
Kyle Trask was put in a tough spot.
The freshman quarterback has been pitted against the more athletic Franks since he enrolled at Florida last year and, according to coaches, had held his own.
But there was clearly a difference between the two quarterbacks on Friday.
Trask completed six of his 15 passes for 66 yards, was sacked twice, threw one interception and no touchdowns.
And although he was playing against Florida’s first-team defense for most of the night, a couple of his passes were inexcusable.
His lone interception came on a play where Trask tried to fit a pass into triple coverage in the third quarter.
“It was tough at times going against the best defense in the country,” Trask said. “I just need to control what I can control.”
Winner: Kadarius Toney, quarterback
No player improved their stock more on Friday than true freshman quarterback Kadarius Toney.
He wasn’t put in the game until halfway through the third quarter, but once he got a chance, he was electric.
He used his speed to scramble out of the pocket. He made a few pinpoint passes that he didn’t make during the open portions of spring practice available to media. And he had a game-high 65 rushing yards, including a 34-yard run on third down on the last play of the game.
“He’s quick, elusive,” defensive back Chauncey Gardner said. “He’s a running back playing quarterback.”
But maybe Toney’s most impressive play came with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. After escaping pressure from the pocket and juking several defenders along the sideline, Toney completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Tucker Nordman.
"He's really a good football player. He's a guy that needs to have the ball in his hands,” McElwain said. “I’m glad he’s a Gator.”
Loser: Offensive line
Although they improved as the game went on, Florida’s offensive line definitely left something to be desired.
The first- and second-team offensive line both struggled at times during the first half. There was often pressure in UF’s backfield, which led to three sacks — two on Trask and one on Franks. Trask even fumbled after being pressured by defensive lineman Jabari Zuniga in the first quarter.
“I thought they did okay,” McElwain said of the offensive line. “Disappointed with a couple guys that didn’t compete.”
Excluding running back Mark Thompson, who had a 27-yard run late in the fourth quarter when most of the starters were already out of the game, Florida’s longest run from a tailback on Friday was 9 yards.
Rising junior Jordan Scarlett looked like the best of the group, but couldn’t quite find enough holes to collect a breakout run. He finished with 35 yards and one touchdown on nine carries.
“You could see some mental mistakes,” sophomore offensive lineman Fred Johnson said. “But it's things that we know, and (they) just got lost to us in the heat of the game."
Contact Ian Cohen at icohen@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @icohenb
Coach Jim McElwain addresses players following the conclusion of the Spring football game on April 7, 2017.
