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Florida Football: Studs and duds from the 2019 season

By Dante Pryor

MIAMI, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 30: Kyle Trask #11 of the Florida Gators celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 30: Kyle Trask #11 of the Florida Gators celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Virginia Cavaliers during the second half of the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 30: Kyle Trask #11 of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 36-28 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2019, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 30: Kyle Trask #11 of the Florida Gators celebrates after defeating the Virginia Cavaliers 36-28 in the Capital One Orange Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2019, in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Stud: Kyle Trask

If redshirt junior quarterback Kyle Trask goes to the NFL after next season — he’s officially coming back to school — and becomes a star, he needs an ESPN 30 for 30 or a biography of his football career done. Hollywood can’t write a better script than Trask’s career arc now.

First, he didn’t start in high school. He played a lot but did not start at Manvel High School because the coaches thought the quarterback in front of him was “a better fit for their offense.” The quarterback? D’Eriq King. His high school coaches might have been right.

It was his mother that instilled loyalty and grit not allowing him to transfer in high school to play elsewhere. “I’m born and raised in Manvel and I’m a Manvel Maverick,” Trask would tell other high school coaches. However, when he got to Florida he sat behind the likes of Austin Appleby, Luke DelRio, Malik Zaire and Felepie Franks. It was that loyalty instilled in him while in high school that kept him in Gainesville.

This was supposed to be the year we saw the genius of Mullen. He had an entire offseason to tinker and experiment with the talented, yet raw, Franks. Good things come to those who wait, however. In the third game of the season, Franks suffered a season-ending dislocated ankle. In steps Trask.

There was no way this guy could play, right? He wasn’t good enough to start for his high school team.

One thing we saw in the Kentucky game was Trask had guts, moxie and confidence. He responded by leading the Gators to three fourth-quarter scores and a come-from-behind win; Mullen knew he had his man.

Trask rewarded his coach’s faith in him with 2,941 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and four rushing scores this season leading his team to the Orange Bowl.

Write that one, Hollywood.

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