UF QB Kyle Trask’s star turn at Kentucky began surprising record-setting run with Gators

Florida’s sideline was stunned and somber as coach Dan Mullen and medical personnel attended to injured quarterback Feleipe Franks on Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

Backups Kyle Trask and Emory Jones were unsure what would happen next.

Turns out it was one of the most unpredictable success stories during the Gators’ illustrious history, beginning with a double-digit comeback win Sept. 14, 2019, against the Wildcats.

“I remember that being a very hostile environment,” tailback Dameon Pierce said, “until Kyle Trask went in and won the game for us and they got real quiet.”

The No, 10 Gators (3-1, 1-1 SEC) hope more heroics are unnecessary Saturday night at unbeaten Kentucky (4-0, 2-0). Yet, quarterback switches and late-game comebacks in Lexington are well familiar to Florida, despite 16 straight wins in the Bluegrass State.

Redshirt freshman Danny Wuerffel’s touchdown pass to walk-on Chris Doering with eight seconds remaining in 1993 gave the Gators’ a 24-20 win. Ten years later, first-year signal caller Chris Leak led an 18-point comeback — the largest on the road in UF history. A second-half quarterback switch to 22-year-old transfer Luke Del Rio and two blown coverages by the ‘Cats added up to a 28-27 victory in 2017.

“There’s something about that place,” Trask told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. “I remember when Luke had that comeback. I was watching on TV with my crutches the first time I broke my foot.”

Still, no quarterback drama compares with Trask’s star turn under the lights at Kroger Field.

Mullen surprised many onlookers sending in Trask, a longtime backup, instead of Jones, a highly recruited redshirt freshman.

“I didn’t know who was coming in,” Jones’ mother, Trina, recently told the Sentinel.

Mullen’s choice quickly made sense.

With his team trailing 21-10 and a sold-out, pom-pom waving crowd in a frenzy, Trask coolly completed his first four passes — and 9 of 13 overall — while later scoring on 4-yard run to cap an improbable 29-21 win.

To accentuate Trask’s passing skills, Mullen retooled the offense en route to an 11-2 season. In 2020, Trask emerged as a Heisman finalist while breaking many of UF’s single-season marks.

Last April, reigning Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay selected him during the NFL draft’s second round to become Tom Brady’s backup.

These days, Trask shares a locker room with the greatest quarterback of all time and a host of household names, including Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown and Richard Sherman.

“It’s pretty crazy,” Trask said. “I feel like everywhere you look there’s a superstar.”

Looking back, Trask points to Kentucky as the start of it all.

“If it was not for that game, me taking advantage of the opportunity, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “Yeah, I do think about it all the time.”

Similar to his experience in Gainesville, Trask waits his turn and hones his craft in Tampa.

On Saturdays, he splits his attention between the Bucs and Gators.

Trask will tune into the Kentucky game during the team flight to New England. He expects to have a friendly wager with Tampa Bay third-year safety Mike Edwards, a former Wildcat.

“No matter what I’m definitely going to watch it,” Trask said.

Trask remains close with Jones and supportive of his former backup.

“It’s super cool seeing Emory growing and maturing on the field; he’s taken so many leaps and bounds,” Trask said.

Trask is eager to see how current Gators’ backup Anthony Richardson continues to develop as he returns from a two-week absence with a hamstring injury. Trask attended UF’s 42-20 win Sept. 11 against USF in the Bucs home stadium, where Richardson threw for a 75- and 41-yard touchdown and ran for an 80-yard score.

“He’s just a super humble, hard-working kid,” Trask said. “His future is really bright.”

Trask himself was humble and hard-working at UF. For three years he bided his time behind Del Rio, Franks and others before his chance finally arrived one night at Kentucky.

Watching from the sideline, Jones was pretty sure he would have to wait his turn.

“I talked with Emory after that,” his mother recalled. “Now, Trask did really well, what do you think? I knew at that point it was going to be a conversation. He was like, ‘Why would he take him out? Kyle was balling.’

“Had it been him to go in and perform the same way would he have been in the situation? We don’t know. But it was Kyle’s moment.”

This article first appeared on OrlandoSentinel.com. Email Edgar Thompson at egthompson@orlandosentinel.com or follow him on Twitter at @osgators.