Gators get razzle dazzle from their returning stars

GAINESVILLE — From the start, Dan Mullen set the tone that this Orange & Blue spring game was about the fans, and indeed that’s how it felt Saturday.

The first trickery came at the start of the second quarter when quarterback Kyle Trask took the snap for the Blue team and immediately unfurled a deep pass down the right sideline. To whom?

Former Florida wide receiver Lawrence Wright, who came off the sideline to make the catch for a 52-yard “touchdown.”

Feleipe Franks later would get to return the favor for the Orange squad, tossing a 60-yard “touchdown” to former Florida standout Travis McGriff, who also emerged downfield off the sideline to make the wideopen catch and score.

Thus, any stats from the spring game must be taken with a grain of salt, but it achieved what Mullen wanted.

“I want to have fun. I mean, life’s too short. We’re going to have fun,” Mullen said. “Now, I’m competitive and I want to win, but we’re going to have fun doing this. … You know what’s fun? Playing as hard as you possibly can, setting a goal for yourself and giving everything you have to go and achieve that goal. That’s fun. To go out there and do it with the fans, let them see, to see that type of offense.

“Hopefully we’ll be able to score points in the fall because I know everybody here likes to score points and I love points.”

Mullen implored the fan base to come out in large numbers — it did with an announced attendance of 53,015 — and he rewarded those fans with an offensive showcase, which anyone in these parts knows has been a rarity for the Gators in recent years.

“We had over 53,000 people. We didn’t fudge. I could have fudged it more than that, but we didn’t fudge for 53,000,” Mullen said. “… To see that, that type of support, that energy from the crowd, it was really special again. To get everybody out there and create that excitement was huge.”

Officially, the Orange team won, 35-30, for what it’s worth.

Trask, the untested redshirt sophomore who missed all of last season with a foot injury, looked sharp commanding the offense.

The first quarter had the truest game flow of the scrimmage, and Trask went 4 of 6 for 33 yards, including a 17-yard strike to Kadarius Toney on thirdand-long to keep the drive going for an eventual Jorge Powell field goal.

In the second quarter, he and running back Jordan Scarlett combined to lead a quick touchdown drive for the Blue team. Scarlett started with a 27-yard run around the right side followed by a 7-yard pick-up, then Trask threw a dart to Rick Wells for a 19-yard gain and Scarlett soon scampered in for a 7-yard touchdown.

Another impressive sequence from Trask came later in the half on a pair of back-to-back throws. First, he fired a dart across the field to the far sideline to Freddie Swain with cornerback Brian Edwards in tight coverage. That gained 9 yards while showing off his arm strength, and then Trask hit Toney down the middle for 13 yards. He tried to follow with a quick-release lob to tight end C’yontai Lewis in the end zone, but it sailed a little long.

Franks, meanwhile, didn’t complete many passes downfield, having his most success with quick screens. But he did have a poise play late in the first quarter when he saw nothing open downfield, rolled out and hit Van Jefferson for a 17-yard gain. That was his longest pass, aside from the choreographed deep pass to McGriff.

His best highlight, though, came on the ground as he rumbled for a 60-yard touchdown scamper early in the second quarter. Franks was asked if the defense helped usher him into the end zone.

“I don’t know, man. That’s what they said, but I was told to just keep on running so I just tried to keep on running. I’ll take it any way I can get it,” he joked.

Most importantly for both quarterbacks, neither turned the ball over.

Trask had two throws that could have potentially gone for interceptions (a pass break-up by C.J. Henderson on the first drive and another by walk-on Patrick Moorer along the sideline at the end of the first half ). Otherwise, he was crisp.

And Franks made a questionable decision to target Jefferson in triple-coverage early in the scrimmage, but it went for a harmless incompletion.

According to the stats kept by Florida, Franks was 8 of 12 for 117 yards and 1 TD while rushing for 63 yards and 2 TDs. Trask was 12 of 24 for 178 yards and 1 TD.

Scarlett rushed for 57 yards and 2 scores on 10 carries, and Toney had 4 catches for 50 yards.