The Florida Gators miraculously came back to beat the Kentucky Wildcats in Lexington last night, but the Gators lost their starting quarterback for the season. Feleipe Franks dislocated his ankle in the second half last night, and he has already been ruled out the remainder of the year.
Dang. If you missed the Feleipe Franks injury, this doesn’t look good. pic.twitter.com/JihmwmttIM
— Connor O'Gara (@cjogara) September 15, 2019
Feleipe Franks was bent over backwards while trying to pick up a first down on a fourth-down play in the third quarter. Cameras caught him grimacing in pain immediately afterwards, and his ankle was put in an air cast before he was carted off the field.
Florida rallied behind Eli Trask without Franks to win, but Dan Mullen was noticeably deflated afterwards when discussing his starting quarterback:
“I went out there, and I was with him, you know, told him we all love him, we’re there for him, and he’ll be all right. I think the team [gathering around Franks] shows what he means to the team, and what the team thinks of him, you know as the leader of the team, and the type of guy he is, how hard he works, to go do that. And, shows a lot about him and what the team thinks.
“It really, to me, shows the respect that they have for his leadership and the love that they have for him. It’s a pretty close team and these guys work hard for these things, you know. It’s a tragedy when that happens.”
Franks has started 23 games for Florida over the last three seasons, so his injury is a huge blow. Trask will be the quarterback going forward for not, but Emory Jones is also expected to see some time.
If Feleipe Franks is seriously injured, it'll be the third time since 2013 that Florida has lost its starting QB to serious injury in its third game of the season.
— Alligator Army (@AlligatorArmy) September 15, 2019
Quarterback injuries are nothing new to Florida. The Gators have been continually snakebitten when it comes to quarterback health. Jeff Driskel broke his right leg against Tennessee in 2013 and missed the rest of the year, and Luke Del Rio injured his knee and shoulder against Tennessee in 2017.
H/T Alligator Army and ESPN
