Democrat-Gazette writer Tom Murphy looked back at the Gators just overwhelming the Hogs plus what he expects for the Tigers’ game.
Bud Light Seltzer Morning Rush Podcast – Kyle Trask can play
Tye & Tommy on the Florida game, Masters recap, Muschamp fired and more!
This week, Hogs’ Franks will be best quarterback on field against LSU
Arkansas defensive coordinator Barry Odom isn’t the only coach in football that’s pretty good at watching film and coming up with some pretty good answers.
Dan Mullen’s offensive staff at Florida did a pretty good job of that, plus they had better players a little better, which is why the 62-35 win Saturday night shouldn’t be that shocking.
Quarterback Kyle Trask threw himself into the Heisman Tophy spotlight with six touchdowns, throwing past the Razorbacks’ linebacker duo of Bumper Pool and Grant Morgan, who combined for 22 tackles … just a little above some of their individual best nights.
The Hogs couldn’t get consistent pressure on Trask, who had receivers talented enough to simply slice up the secondary.
Arkansas’ defense played hard and made a few plays, but the Gators are on a path that has multiple options of landing them in the College Football Playoff this year. This is their best team in over a decade.
Odom’s main task after this one was not letting Florida beat the Hogs twice.
“I talked to our team inside about life is made of a series of moments not defined by one single moment,” Odom said later. “Just like we won’t be defined by this moment. We’ll be defined on how we respond to this.”
LSU is coming up next and no one could have predicted back in the summer just how this game has turned from “no way” the Hogs could win to being favored from 1.5 to 3.5 points in the first Vegas odds Sunday.
Multiple people in Baton Rouge told me the Tigers get nearly all of their players back by Tuesday from the contact tracing quarantine that postponed the Alabama game last weekend. All of the chaos in college football is not being caused by positive tests but the quarantine factor for folks that have no symptoms and never test positive.
But Saturday night, offensive coordinator Kendal Briles called about as good of a game with what he had as possible.
The Hogs hit “explosive plays” (it’s not “chunk” or “big” plays this year). Feleipe Franks connected twice with Mike Woods for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Trelon Smith broke free for an 83-yard touchdown run.
Florida wasn’t going to let Treylon Burks get free. He did end up with three catches for 47 yards, mostly on slant patterns.
When it counted the Hogs couldn’t stay on the field on third down (just 3-of-9) and couldn’t get the Gators off the field on third down (9-of-12).
Plus the special teams questions continued. Not that the Hogs didn’t anything horrific against the Gators, but De’Vion Warren had four kickoff returns for 84 yards. That’s an average of 21 yards per return and you get the ball at the 25 on a touchback, which means they were trying to pop a big play.
Most of the pregame attention was on quarterback Feleipe Franks returning to Florida.
If Franks is as efficient against LSU this week as he was Saturday, the Hogs have a good chance at winning.
His biggest problem is not getting rid of the ball quick enough to avoid sacks. That’s a combination of being stubborn about giving up on a play and an offensive line that isn’t great.
Franks is the best deep passer for the Hogs since Joe Ferguson (and, yes, I’m putting him ahead of Ryan Mallett, who couldn’t drop throws in the tiny holes Franks does). He is not a runner, but he can run enough to turn a zero play into a positive one.
Most of all, though, no game has been too big for him. He’s been there, done that … and won at a high level.
This week he will be the best quarterback on the field against the Tigers.
And that could be enough.
Muschamp getting fired at South Carolina may start dominoes falling
According to multiple media reports, South Carolina has had all it wants of Will Muschamp as coach after an embarrassing loss at Ole Miss on Saturday night.
BREAKING: #SouthCarolina has parted ways with Will Muschamp, per sources.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) November 16, 2020
Muschamp, who rode a reputation as a defensive mind developed under Nick Saban to a head coaching stint at Florida, was almost toyed with by Lane Kiffin and the Rebels’ offense in a 59-42 loss.
Now the annual game of coaching musical chairs can officially start as more and more teams start firing coaches before Thanksgiving so they can start finding a replacement.
It will be interesting to see the people that are anxious to take over an SEC school that is second best in it’s own state (behind Clemson). The Gamecocks haven’t beaten the Tigers since 2013.
Muschamp’s closest loss to the in-state rival was a 56-35 loss in 2018.
The loss Saturday was made worse by how much offense Ole Miss put on Muschamp’s defense. Matt Corral threw for 513 yards and the Rebels ran for another 195.
The Gamecocks (2-5) have allowed a total of 159 points during their three-game losing streak and gave up 708 yards of total offense in the loss to Ole Miss.
Muschamp, in his fifth season as South Carolina’s coach, was 28-30 overall. Muschamp recorded more wins in his first three seasons (22) than any coach in school history and trailed only Steve Spurrier (28) after four seasons as South Carolina’s coach.
But the Gamecocks finished 4-8 a year ago and have lost 14 of their past 20 games dating back to the 28-0 Belk Bowl defeat to Virginia to end the 2018 season.
According to the terms of Muschamp’s contract, his buyout was in the $15 million range if he were to be fired at the end of this season, although Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports tweeted it was slightly lower.
Will Muschamp’s buyout is just north of $13 million. It was cut slightly as part of the most recent amendment to his contract. There had been growing concern among school officials and supporters that continued fan apathy could cost South Carolina more.
— Josh Kendall (@JoshTheAthletic) November 16, 2020
This is the second time Muschamp has been fired from an SEC head-coaching job. He was dismissed by Florida toward the end of the 2014 season and coached the final two games before stepping away.
He spent the 2015 season at Auburn as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator.
Mullen impressed with how Franks has handled improving Hogs this year
Florida coach Dan Mullen got a chance to catch up with former quarterback Feleipe Franks and had high praise for his performance this year.
Trask on going against former teammate Franks in Gators’ win Saturday night
Florida quarterback Kyle Trask took over for Feleipe Franks last season and is now among best in league and they talked after game Saturday.
Franks after Saturday night’s loss on ‘lifetime bond’ with Gators’ Mullen, Trask
Hogs quarterback Feleipe Franks spent most of his time after the 63-35 loss to Florida talking with coach Dan Mullen and QB Kyle Trask.
Morgan says missed assignments biggest issue for defense in loss to Florida
Hogs linebacker Grant Morgan said after the 63-35 loss the Gators are good, but the defense also made a lot of mistakes they’ll fix.
GAMEDAY BLOG: Arkansas can’t keep up with Gators in 63-35 loss
Arkansas tried to stay with Florida for awhile, but a big night by Kyle Trask made that a failed mission with six touchdown passes on his way to a 63-35 win in Gainesville.
Trask was 23-of-29 through the air for 356 yards and six touchdowns while the opportunistic Razorbacks’ defense couldn’t pick up a single turnover all evening.
Hogs quarterback Feleipe Franks, returning to Gainesville to face his old team, didn’t have a bad night. He was 15-of-19 for 224 yards and two touchdowns while the running game added 208 yards.
4Q 11:51: Arkansas doesn’t quit as Mike Woods takes in a long pass from Feleipe Franks, pushes a defender away then out-runs everyone diagonally across the field for an 82-yard scoring pass If you had the over you’d have been good from early in the fourth quarter. Gators 56, Hogs 28
4Q 12:17: Feleipe Franks and Rakeem Boyd mess up a handoff, the ball hits the ground. Florida’s Zachary Carter scoops it up and runs 35 yards untouched down the right sideline and it’s officially a blowout. Gators 56, Hogs 21
4Q 13:08: Kyle Trask throws his sixth touchdown pass of the night with another pass down the seam into the end zone to Keon Zipperer for the second time that connection has worked. The Gators’ offense has 510 yards on the night and has blown this one open. Gators 49, Hogs 21
3Q 3:01: The Hogs’ offense comes up a yard short of a first down when Blake Kern is tackled by a defensive back then the Gators’ offense goes down the field to score on a 1-yard run by freshman quarterback Emory Jones. Gators 42, Hogs 21
3Q 12:00: Arkansas’ offense takes the second-half kickoff and goes 75 yards in nine plays, overcoming a critical third-and-short mistake in the process. Rakeem Boyd broke free up the middle with a slicing cutback to score from 12 yards out. Now the defense needs a stop. Gators 35, Hogs 21
HALFTIME: If Florida’s Kyle Trask wins the Heisman this year it’s a safe bet there will be highlights against the Hogs. Trask has lit up the Hogs’ secondary in the first half, going 18-of-22 for 285 yards and five touchdowns. The last one of those came with a 5-yarder to Keon Zipperer with 17 seconds left in the second quarter. The Hogs’ offense hasn’t struggled. Feleipe Franks is 6-of-8 for 102 yards but 47 of that came on a scoring pass to Mike Woods. The Hogs have rushed for 124 yards (135 without sacks), but 83 of that came on Trelon Smith’s long run. Gators 35, Hogs 14
2Q 4:33: Kyle Trask is making Arkansas’ pass defense look like something that’s never been practiced as he completes a 33-yard scoring pass to Jared Copeland, who beats Joe Foucha and Simeon Blair. Trask is 15-of-18 for 247 yards and four touchdowns … all in the first half. Gators 28, Hogs 14
2Q 6:55: Trelon Smith shows NFL-type moves and speed as he blows through the line, makes one cut and races 83 yards for the Hogs’ longest scoring play of the season (the longest since Rakeem Boyd went 86 yards against Western Kentucky last year). That’s answering the Gators quickly on Smith’s first carry of the night. Gators 21, Hogs 14
2Q 7:17: Gators quarterback Kyle Trask is having a huge night … all in the first half. After Arkansas’ offense bogged down, Trask first converted an awkward-looking flea-flicker into a 43-yard completion to Xzavier Henderson (backpedaling behind Hudson Clark), he threw a 21-yard scoring pass to Justin Shorter, who simply out-jumped Jalen Catalon. The Hogs’ offense has got to avoid mistakes or this is going to get out of hand. Gators 21, Hogs 7
2Q 10:03: After Feleipe Franks doesn’t correctly read a fourth-and-1 pass (Treylon Burks was wide open for a touchdown), the Gators convert a third-and-11 into a 23-yard score from Kyle Trask to Trevon Grimes. Cornerbacks Greg Brooks, Jr., and Hudson Clark didn’t communicate a man coverage correctly and Grimes was wide open in the middle. Gators 14, Hogs 7
1Q 6:03: The Hogs answered the Gators in a hurry. Feleipe Franks got warmed up on short passes to De’Vion Warren and Blake Kern, mixed in a couple of Rakeem Boyd runs, then found Mike Woods down the right sideline for a 47-yard scoring strike to tie the game. Hogs 7, Gators 7
1Q 7:36: Florida takes the opening kickoff and drives 75 yards in 14 plays with quarterback Kyle Trask hitting Trevon Grimes on a sideline screen for the score from 9 yards out. Now, the Razorbacks’ offense has to answer to avoid digging an early hole. Gators 7, Hogs 0
Arkansas looks for a way to keep the momentum going off a surprising 3-3 start to the season on the road against Flordia. LISTEN ONLINE
Report says Gators tight end officially out of Arkansas game
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, one of the top players in the country, will miss the Arkansas game and maybe more, according to SEC Nation this morning.
#Gators TE Kyle Pitts (concussion) is officially out for tonight’s game vs. Arkansas, and is also expected to miss next week’s game at Vanderbilt, coach Dan Mullen tells @LauraRutledge on #SECNation.
— Brandon Zimmerman (@BZSEC) November 14, 2020
Mullen also told Rutledge that he might miss next week’s game against Vanderbilt, too, after the violent hit he had in the game with Georgia last week.
The Razorbacks and Gators will meet tonight at 6 p.m. in a game televised on ESPN and you can listen online at HitThatLine.com or on the air at ESPN Arkansas 95.3 in the River Valley, 96.3 in Hot Springs and 104.3 in Harrison-Mountain Home.
