Feleipe Franks faked a handoff to Jordan Scarlett and darted left. With multiple Charleston Southern defenders in front of him, Franks swung the ball out to wide receiver Josh Hammond, who picked up 11 yards and a first down for UF on the first play of the game.
The play wasn’t spectacular. It went down as a rush because Franks actually lateralled.
But the run-pass option got the redshirt sophomore quarterback in a groove early, as he impressed with a five-touchdown performance for his debut under coach Dan Mullen. The last UF player to have five passing touchdowns in a half: Rex Grossman in a 38-7 route of Auburn 2000.
The Gators (1-0) defeated Charleston Southern (0-1), 53-6, after leaping out to 38-0 lead through 30 minutes. Franks completed 16 of his 24 passes to 12 different targets for 219 yards, and most importantly, threw no interceptions.
Franks started the game poised and productive, dumping the ball down and making “unspectacular plays,” as Mullen likes to call them. They translated to points for the Gators.
“His communication was pretty solid during the game with us, coming off the field,” Mullen said. “Being able to talk through a previous series, there’s so much to that to a quarterback.”
Later in the opening drive on a critical third-and-10, he used a hard count to draw an offside penalty and put the Gators in manageable distance to convert.
Two plays after Scarlett rumbled forward for a fourth-down conversion, Franks hit Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes on a bubble screen that went 34 yards to the house thanks to a great lead block by tight end R.J. Raymond, giving UF a touchdown lead out of the gate.
The screen pass was Franks’ longest touchdown on the night. In fact, it was his only one to eclipse six yards. His long pass of the night came in the first quarter, a 46-yard strike to Freddie Swain that set up an Evan McPherson field goal.
The quick tempo helped Florida get into the red zone with relative ease. The longest touchdown drive lasted 2:31, which was capped-off by a score from Mississippi transfer Van Jefferson.
Franks delivered scoring strikes to Hammond, Tyrie Cleveland and a pair to Jefferson, all of which came in the second quarter.
“I was worried,” Mullen said. “That was one of the things for us going into the game, I want to play with great tempo, get up, get down, get adjusted to doing that.”
The quarterback’s timing with his receivers was on point. He facilitated 11 first-down passes, including a 13-yarder on an out-route by Jefferson that concluded the opening frame.
Perhaps Franks’ best throw of the night was on a third-and-goal from the six with about 10 minutes remaining in the half. The quarterback evaded pressure and reviewed all of his options before Hammond broke free under the goalpost and got open for a touchdown.
But the call that Florida fans will be talking about all week came with just under six minutes left in the second. Franks did his best Tebow impersonation, throwing a jump pass on third down from the 6-yard line to Cleveland for his fourth touchdown.
The Florida offensive line also kept the UF quarterbacks comfortable by not allowing a sack the entire game. Aside from a couple of bad shotgun snaps to backups Kyle Trask and Emory Jones, the big heavies up front played very well in the pass protection.
Mullen said Trask showed he’s a willing runner in camp, and the coach dialed up a draw in the red zone for his backup. The Texas native ran up the right sideline and dove for the pylon to put the Gators up 47-0. He also went 3-for-3 passing for 22 yards.
His 12-yard pass to Grimes put UF in position for McPherson’s 31-yard field goal with 10:58 left in the third.
Jones didn’t attempt a pass and had three carries for negative 4 yards. However, the freshman’s first play from scrimmage was a six-yard loss on a bad snap followed by a five-yard loss, which doesn’t help.
Mullen said the game was a good opportunity to get guys like Jones and Trask more in-game reps.
“My challenge to everyone is just play as hard as you can,” Mullen said. “If you have an opportunity to be on the field, go as hard as you can. I don’t care what the score is. If we are losing big, winning big, none of that should matter.”
Follow Mark Stine on Twitter @mstinejr or contact him at mstine@alligator.org.
Quarterback Feleipe Franks went 16-for-24 for 219 yards and five touchdowns in the first half against Charleston Southern before being subbed out for the second half.
