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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: Lamical Perine #2 of the Florida Gators looks on 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: Lamical Perine #2 of the Florida Gators looks on 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: Lamical Perine

If there’s one consistent theme with the studs Florida had this season it’s “everyone has a story.” Gators running back and Orange Bowl MVP Lamical Perine is no different.

Lightly recruited out of high school from tiny Pritchard, Ala. — that’s outside Mobile by the way — the only SEC offer Perine had for a while was from Dan Mullen and Mississippi State. Perine recalls Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn saying he was too slow to be an SEC running back

Florida swooped in and snatched Perine away from the Bulldogs. However, Mullen’s faith in Perine kept the former three-star running back in Gainesville.

Perine admitted to doing some soul-searching after former coach Jim McElwain and his staff were fired and they hadn’t hired a new coach. He decided to stay and the most serendipitous thing happened; the Gators hired the man who recruited him originally: Mullen.

Under Mullen, Perine has blossomed as one of the better all-purpose running backs in the country. His improvement under Mullen generated some NFL buzz his junior year. Instead, Perine decided to return to The Swamp for his senior year instead of following fellow Gator running back Jordan Scarlett to the NFL. His return yielded wonderful returns for both he and the Gators.

This season, Perine became an even better all-purpose back than his junior season. He led the team in rushing, was third on the team in receptions. His 138 rushing yards and 181 total yards propelled the Gators to an Orange Bowl victory against the Virginia Cavaliers.

Guess he’s fast enough to play in the SEC, after all.

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