LEXINGTON, Ky. — It all came down to one kick.
Florida — trying to avoid its first loss at Kentucky since 1986 — battled back from a 21-10 fourth quarter deficit to take a 22-21 lead. The Wildcats, though, set kicker Chance Poore up with a chance to take the lead with a 35-yard field goal with less than a minute left.
He missed it wide right, much to the bewilderment of the Kentucky fans at Kroger Field who thought it went through the uprights.
“I wasn’t even looking,” tight end Kyle Pitts, who had a career-high 63-yards receiving, said. “I was just praying to God that he missed it.”
The No. 9 Gators (3-0, 1-0 SEC) escaped Lexington with a 29-21 over Kentucky thanks to the missed field goal and the stellar play of redshirt junior backup quarterback Kyle Trask, who led the Gators to the comeback victory after starter Feleipe Franks suffered what coach Dan Mullen described as a “pretty certain” season-ending “break or dislocation” in his right leg.
“I think Kentucky’s an excellent football team,” Mullen said. “We came on the road, in a very tough environment, (we) came and got a big-time win.”
Trask led UF to the end zone on three of the four drives he orchestrated, including a 66-yard drive that ended with him dashing into the end zone on a 4-yard designed run with 4:11 left to put Florida ahead for good.
The game was a back-and-forth affair from the start. The Gators wasted no time moving down the field on their opening drive, going 38 yards in four plays.
The momentum halted, however, when Franks made a poor decision to launch a jump ball near the Kentucky (2-1, 0-1 SEC) end zone. The pass was intercepted by safety Tyrell Ajian, who had a chance at a touchdown on the return but was tripped up by running back Lamical Perine at the UK 31.
It wouldn’t take long for Franks to get another chance.
Kentucky quarterback Sawyer Smith fumbled the snap on the third play of the Wildcats’ opening drive. UF recovered the ball, then converted on the good field position with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Franks to Freddie Swain.
UK responded on its next possession. After having already converted on third and 21 and third and 8 on the drive, Sawyer connected with Ahmad Wagner — who made an incredible juggling catch — on third and 9 for a 26-yard touchdown.
Florida’s shaky start continued on its next drive. Following a 31-yard completion, Franks fumbled when he was hit by defensive tackle Kordell Looney. Kentucky recovered and proceeded to march down the field for a 54-yard touchdown drive (capped by a 1-yard sneak by Smith) to take a 14-7 lead.
The Gators moved the ball well again on their next drive, but were eventually faced with a fourth and 2 on the Kentucky 10-yard line. Mullen elected to kick a field goal, and the decision backfired: kicker Evan McPherson missed a 27-yarder wide right.
Kentucky got the ball back at its own 20 with 2:37 left in the half but was forced to punt and entered the break with a seven-point lead.
The Wildcats moved the ball all the way to the UF 18 on the opening drive of the second half, but the momentum of the game shifted when Smith was intercepted by Shawn Davis. Davis returned the ball 72 yards and Florida converted a field goal on the drive to cut UK’s lead to 14-10.
Smith, however, wasn’t shaken by the interception. He shifted the momentum right back in Kentucky’s favor by leading the Wildcats on a 75-yard touchdown drive that he capped with a 13-yard pass to Keaton Upshaw to give UK its 21-10 lead.
Florida’s next drive ended in disaster when Franks’ right leg was caught under Kentucky lineman Calvin Taylor Jr. as he scrambled on fourth down. He didn’t pick up the first, but the real concern was the injury — Franks had to be carted off the field after many UF players came off the sideline to surround him.
After Florida stopped Kentucky on fourth down on the next drive, Trask began UF’s comeback. He went 4 for 5 on his first possession before an option to Perine resulted in an 8-yard TD run to bring the Gators within five.
Florida punted on its next possession, but Trask rebounded to lead UF on its game-winning drive after Davis’ second interception of the day.
The win was sealed when wide receiver Josh Hammond ran a reverse for a 76-yard touchdown with 33 seconds left.
“At the end of the day,” Trask said, “I’m just proud of our team’s resiliency to come back and come together.”
Follow Sam Campisano on Twitter @samcampisano. Contact him at scampisano@alligator.org.
Redshirt junior Kyle Trask scored the eventual game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of Florida's victory over Kentucky.
