Franks shines in scrimmage

GAINESVILLE — Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks is making muchneeded progress.

The redshirt sophomore also had little place to go but up.

Franks followed an ugly three-interception day during the team’s first spring scrimmage with an encouraging four-touchdown outing Saturday.

“He did good,” Mullen said of Franks performance. “Felipe had the best numbers at the quarterback position.”

Franks, according to 247Sports, threw for three touchdowns and ran for another one.

Mullen praised Franks’ scrambling and improvising. UF’s coach also said not to weigh the impact of Franks’ performance on the QB race.

“For me, I don’t think I’ve paid attention to separation. I’m watching all the guys and really worried about how we’re getting better,” Mullen said. “With where we are with a new roster to me, with everybody starting over, is it’s a long time before we have to make any decisions or play a game.

“So I’m not that concerned about that right now.”

Mullen also cautioned not to read much into the numbers, given the nebulous nature of stat-keeping during intrasquad scrimmages.

“There was always an argument, ‘He would have been sacked, he would have been tackled, he would have …’” Mullen explained. “The defensive and offensive stats don’t match up. The offensive coaches put their stats down. The defensive coaches put their stats down.”

Either way, Franks outplayed redshirt sophomore Kyle Trask, who outperformed Franks on March 30 in the Swamp.

The team’s top two quarterbacks will go head to head to conclude spring practices during Saturday’s Orange and Blue Debut. Kickoff is a 3 p.m.

First-year freshman quarterback Emory Jones enrolled in January looking to join the Gators’ QB race. Jones at times has showcased his running ability, but he has to evolve as a passer and overall at the position.

“I think one of the things as a young quarterback, you’re going to put him in a situation to be successful. Well the easiest thing for young quarterbacks to do is run the football, and that’s something we try to take away from them a little bit in the learning process so that you have to go push yourself and learn how to do other things,” Mullen said.”

Mullen said he’d like to see all the quarterbacks continue improve their accuracy and ability to handle game situations. Too often, UF’s quarterbacks are repeating the same mistakes, Mullen said.

“They’ve got to learn when those opportunities are and how to take advantage of them.”

JOHN RAOUX/ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE Feleipe Franks threw for three touchdowns and ran for another one during Saturday’s scrimmage.