UF’s Kyle Trask breaks foot at practice, out for the season

Published on Thursday, 11/8/18, at 7:59 a.m. Eastern.

Just when it seemed that third-year sophomore QB Kyle Trask might be on the verge of his getting his first career start for the University of Florida vs. South Carolina on Saturday at The Swamp, he broke his foot at Wednesday’s practice and will miss the rest of the season.

According to a Facebook post on Wednesday night by Trask’s father, Kyle sustained the injury while running a trick play in which he went out for a pass. As he planted his foot, he suffered the non-contact injury. It isn’t supposed to be a long-term deal, and he’s expected to be back for spring practice.

This space has been calling for Trask to get a shot ahead of Feleipe Franks for years now. When Franks was once again ineffective in last week’s 38-17 home loss to Missouri, he was yanked in favor of Trask.

Trask promptly marched the Gators down the field for a touchdowns to the delight of UF fans. He finished the game by completing 10-of-18 passes for 126 yards and one TD without an interception. By comparison, Franks had connected on 9-of-22 throws for 84 yards vs. the Tigers.

For the season, Trask had completed 14-of-22 attempts (63.6%) for 162 yards and one TD without a pick. He also had a 12-yard rushing score in the 53-6 season-opening win over Charleston Southern.

Dan Mullen had planned on using true freshman Emory Jones in two of the Gators’ four remaining games. Jones has only played in the opener and vs. Georgia. With the new redshirt rules, freshmen can still use a redshirt as long as they play in just four games or fewer (at any point in the season).

Therefore, it seems certain that Franks will get the starting nod against the Gamecocks, who were six-point underdogs as of Thursday morning. For USC, RB Rico Dowdle and LB Bryson Allen-Williams were ‘questionable.’

After hosting South Carolina, Florida hosts Idaho and then travels to Tallahassee to face FSU at Doak Campbell Stadium (AKA: The Toilet Bowl in these pages). With a 6-3 record, the Gators are also set to go bowling.

This means that WR Kadarius Toney, who was a QB in high school and threw a TD pass on a gadget play at Mississippi St. earlier this year, will have to be ready to play QB in at least two games when Jones presumably won’t be available in order to maintain his redshirt season.

Long Story Longer: The Franks Era in Gainesville continues. Thanks, Jim McElwain.

**B.E.’s Bonus Nuggets**

–Notre Dame QB Ian Book (15/4 TD-INT ratio) is ‘out’ vs. FSU due to an undisclosed injury, per multiple reports on Thursday morning.

–South Alabama QB Evan Orth has an injured shoulder that has him listed as ‘questionable’ for Saturday’s home game vs. ULM. Orth has thrown for 1,704 yards with a 10/3 TD-INT ratio for the Jaguars.

–UNLV QB Armani Rogers is hoping to return to action at San Diego St. Rogers has been out nearly two months with a broken toe. He’s ‘questionable’ against the Aztecs. Rogers had a 6/4 TD-INT ratio, 488 rushing yards, six rushing scores and a 6.9 YPC average before going down in Week 4. Without Rogers, the Rebels have lost five consecutive games while going 1-4 ATS.

–Is UNLV’s Tony Sanchez in trouble? Maybe. Even without Rogers, a 2-7 record is not helping his cause.

–I think Alabama OC Mike Locksley will be the next head coach at Maryland. Locksley has been known for decades for his ability to recruit the Washington D.C. area. His first head-coaching gig at New Mexico was a disaster, but his stock his up calling plays for this ridiculous ‘Bama offense this season.

–San Diego St. had been without star RB Juwan Washington since Week 4 until he returned this past weekend in a 31-23 non-covering triumph at New Mexico. Washington ran for 95 yards and two TDs on 11 carries. In five games, Washington has run for 608 yards and seven TDs with a 5.5 YPC average. Starting QB Christian Chapman also came back at UNM after missing six straight games while injured. Chapman completed on 13-of-19 throws for 182 yards and one TD without an interception.

–Appalachian St. QB Zac Thomas (concussion) has been upgraded to ‘probable’ at Texas St. Thomas has an 11/4 TD-INT ratio, 1,145 passing yards, 281 rushing yards and six rushing TDs. After going down in a 34-14 loss at Ga. Southern, Thomas missed a 23-7 win at Coastal Carolina.

–Vandy is 13-7 ATS in its past 20 games as a double-digit underdog on Derek Mason watch. The Commodores were 17-point underdogs at Missouri as of early Thursday.