First quarter
On the opening drive of the season and the coach Dan Mullen Era at Florida, redshirt sophomore quarterback Feleipe Franks teamed with receiver Trevon Grimes for a 34-yard touchdown at the 12:40 mark. The drive covered 75 yards on eight plays.
Charleston Southern didn’t do anything on its initial drive thanks to a sack by UF blitzking defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
Evan McPherson gave UF a 10-0 lead with a 21-yard field goal at the 8:10 mark. The scoring drive went 64 yards on eight plays highlighted by a 46-yard pass from Franks to Freddie Swain to the CSU 7.
Three three-and-outs for the Florida defense. The Bucs have zero yards of offense in three possessions.
Florida 10
Charleston Southern 0
What went right: The Gators got off to a quick start on offense, taking the opening kickoff and driving 75 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Feleipe Franks seemed comfortable running the offense and received excellent protection from his offensive line. The defense was dominant, holding the Bucs to zero first downs.
What went wrong: Against a defense they should be able overpower, the Gators got almost zero push in the running game. UF also failed to finish its second drive, having to settle for a 21-yard field goal by freshman Evan McPherson.
Play of the quarter: A quick wide receiver screen from Franks to Ohio State transfer Trevon Grimes that went 34 yards for a touchdown on UF’s opening drive.
Trending: The offense clearly has established it has a chance to go up and down the field, while the defense is dominating.
— Robbie Andreu
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Second quarter
Franks teamed with Van Jefferson for a 6-yard TD pass at the 13:19 mark to cap a 43-yard, six-play drive.
The Franks Show continued on the following possession when he completed a six-yard TD pass to Josh Hammond at the 9:51 mark. Florida had stopped CSU on downs at the Bucs 29.
That gives Franks his first collegiate game of three or more touchdowns.
Franks was spreading the wealth, after completing a 30-yard pass to tight end Lucas Krull to the CSU 3, he completed a 3-yard TD pass to Tyrie Cleveland at the 5:49 yard to cap a 70-yard, seven-play drive for the 31-0 advantage.
It was Jefferson again with a TD catch from Franks at the 1:38 mark for a 38-0 lead. The 3-yard score capped a 65-yard, five-play drive in 1:56.
Zachary Carter blocked a late field goal attempt by CSU to leave the marging at 38-0 at the half.
Florida 10 28
Charleston Southern 0 0
What went right: Basically, everything went right in a 28-0 run by the Gators that put the game away. Franks was nearly flawless, throwing four touchdown passes, giving him five for the game. He had only nine all of last season. On the other side of the ball, the Gators gave up only one play, which produced the only Charleston Southern first down of the half, and the defense pitched a shutout.
What went wrong: The defense, which had given up zero first downs, got out of position on one play that led to a 70-yard run. But, well, that’s about the only thing that went wrong in a near-perfect quarter.
Play of the quarter: On the final play of the half, redshirt freshman defensive end Zachary Carter blocked Tyler Tekac’s chip-shot field goal attempt, preserving the shutout and drawing the biggest roar of the night in The Swamp.
Trending: The Gators are dominating on both sides of the ball, and Franks appears to be gaining more confidence with each snap he takes, each pass he completes.
— Robbie Andreu
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Third quarter
McPherson hit a 31-yard field goal for a 41-0 UF lead at the 10:58 mark.
Quarterback Kyle Trask took over in the half for UF. He capped a five-play, 57-yard drive with a 12-yard scoring run to put the Gators up 48-0. Jorge Powell booted the extra point.
Powell made it 51-0 on a 39-yard field goal with 4:48 left in the quarter.
What went right: The Gators, behind No. 2 quarterback Kyle Trask added 13 points to the lead, while the defense continued its dominance, forcing and recovering two fumbles.
What went wrong: With so many backups in the game, the flow of the game wasn’t what it was for the first two quarters on offense. Some negative plays, including a snap over Trask’s head, forced the Gators to settle for field goals twice.
Play of the quarter: A 12-yard touchdown run by Trask that made it a 48-0 game.
Trending: Many of the backups are in for Florida, so the overall play is getting a little spotty on both sides of the ball.
—– Robbie Andreu
Florida 10 28 13
Charleston Southern 0 0 0
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Fourth quarter
Terrence Wilson scored for CSU on a 22-yard run. Then, Jeremiah Moon blocked the extra point and the loose ball was picked up an returned for a 2-point conversion by Austin Perry to make it 53-6.
What went right: No much with so many reserves playing on both sides of the ball. There were three bright spots — the running of true freshman running back Dameon Pierce, a sack by redshirt freshman linebacker Ventrell Miller and a diving interception by true freshman safety John Huggins.
What went wrong: The backups on defense got gashed in the running game quite a bit, giving up a 22-yard touchdown run by Terrence Wilson early in the quarter. The offense basically went nowhere with true freshman Emory Jones at quarterback.
Play of the quarter: Reserve defensive back Austin Perry scooped up a blocked extra-point and returned it all the way for two points.
— Robbie Andreu
Florida 10 28 13 2 — 53
Charleston Southern 0 0 0 6 — 6
Points on the first 2 drives. So far so good. Hopefully the offense can work out any kinks before next week. Go Gators! First comment I think. It feels good.
Franks definitely looks more confident. I know it’s a cupcake, but he looked much worse in cupcake games last season.
Not really
Dan Mullen is the man!!! Play calling is night and day above what we’ve seen for years. Franks looks like he can handle what DM is asking of him. Our defense looks much faster and stronger. I like what I’m seeing.
Love seeing Mullen dancing on the sideline. These guys are having fun and playing loose. Night and day from last season.
Forgot to say coaching coaching coaching is much better at every position. Got to give the staff a thumbs up.
WE HAVE A COACH! He really is a QB whisperer! That is a totally different QB than last year!
This IS like old times, where you score at least 50 on a cupcake and your defense shuts out the opponent! What about that blocked FG! I just knew they were going to do it, SPECIAL TEAMS baby!!!
To be fair to Trask and Jones, once the coach refused to allow them to throw any pass, the offense was going to struggle to move the ball against a decent defense that knew they were going to run.
The backup D definitely needs to work on staying in their gaps!
Dear Franks,
I absolutely hated you last year! I know it’s a garbage team, but you look like a competent qb coached by a great coach. Continue to grow and lead the offense and I will never say another bad thing about you. 5 tds is 5tds my friend! Damn…im so happy to have Mullen leading the team. Not to mention that D and what was that before the half? Was that a special teams block.?? It’s been so long I’m not sure, but I think I remember that’s what that is! IT’S GREAT TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!! Again…
Hahaha, another one!!! I googled it… it’s definitely a blocked kick. Done by what they call “special teams.” GO GATORS!!
Great take by rb on special teams. Joe didn’t hate him but had huge doubts. What a difference good fishing and S&C makes.
We don’t know what the future holds… but for one night, well, THANK YOU DAN MULLEN! THANK YOU GATORS! Thank you for bringing back some ”fun” to Florida Football! The Offense, 1st team ‘D’, and even Special Teams, all looked special again. The Gators just did it! Now just keep on doing it, Gators!
Chomp-chomp! Go Gators!
Not exactly sold on Frank’s yet. Hard to say, he did make a few good throws. What happened to Trask he looked incompetent out there. Nothing like the spring game. Jones ………
Good overall team effort
C’mon, they hike it over his head, killed the drive. After he drove for a TD the coach stopped calling passes and then neither backup could keep a drive alive when a decent D knew they were only going to run. The backups were playing with one hand tied behind their backs!
Seriously? The guy threw for more yards than he did in any game last season and had almost as many TDs as he had all of last season and did all of this in 2 quarters. He was on pace for over 400 yds and 10 TDs. You’re a tough crowd. He’s clearly a much better and more confident QB than he was last year no matter who he was playing. Go back and watch the Alabama-Birmingham game for comparison.
I have a gut feeling, just a gut feeling and I apologise if I am incorrect, that this may be a new itireation of one of our regular trolls.
I don’t think so TJ…..Jonzee is OK. Maybe he just has indigestion.
I never put a lot of weight on the results of these kinds of games. Basically a more intense scrimmage but I did see a few things that I haven’t seen for several years that gave me hope for the future.
1. No stupid, numbskull penalties.
2. The players seemed to be into the game and not just going through the motions.
3. Some imaginative play calling. When’s the last time we saw anything like a jump pass or shovel pass?
4. Coaches actually coaching during the game. Nobody on the sidelines writing down recipes for BBQ sauce.
This was the first game in several years that I didn’t actually cringe when the Gators faced 3rd and long.
All in all, a very encouraging first game.
Thanks Joe. I feel like these comments are intended to make the negative fans feel better about what they think they know. These players have worked very hard and it has showed. We saw how bad the cupcake teams on our schedule have been the last 5 years. To remind everyone, they appeared as good as our team. If you aren’t sold on Franks at this point, then go root for FAU. This team is trending. Last years team sucked and that coaching staff is gone as a result. Either embrace our 2018 Gators or troll somewhere else!
Work ‘em Silly
PLEASE DB’s, keep your eyes on the ball,play the ball and don’t panic if you get beat by a step or two, RELAX AND PLAY THE DAMN BALL!!
You make a great point. They gave up 3 yards yards passing. With your instruction, maybe we can cut that in half next game.