Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A lot of the new, a dash of the old, and a big emphasis on fun. That was the theme Saturday of the Orange & Blue Game at Spurrier/Florida Field. 

New coach Dan Mullen worked feverishly the last couple months to get Gator Nation worked up in anticipation of a new era of Florida football. His efforts came to fruition with an enthusiastic run-up to the spring game and a feel-good day inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, where the Orange defeated the Blue 35-30 in front of announced crowd of 53,015. 

The score was inconsequential. 

The overall event was not. 

"What a great day," Mullen said afterward. "Having that type of support and energy from the crowd was really special for me. To get everybody out there and create that excitement was huge."

The largest spring crowd in nine years — since the one that followed the Gators' last national championship — featured an estimated 170 former players who came back to help Mullen with his objective of rallying all things UF. 

And he didn't invite them just to stand around, either.

Incumbent starting quarterback Feleipe Franks rushed for a pair of touchdowns for the Orange, but also threw one — to former UF wideout Travis McGriff. Comeback tailback Jordan Scarlett, back in action after being suspended for the entire 2017 season, scored a pair of touchdowns, which was one more than former UF safety Lawrence Wright, who caught a score nearly a quarter-century removed from his Gators career.

Franks completed eight of 12 passes for 117 yards (not including the 60-yard strike to McGriff). Third-year sophomore Kyle Trask, who has yet to take a snap in a regular-season game, hit 12 of 24 passes for 178 yards (not including his 48-yarder to Wright) and appeared, by the eye test, to have decent command of the offense. True freshman and early enrollee Emory Jones replaced Franks late in the first half and completed three of seven passes, but two for touchdowns to tight ends; a 58-yard score to R.J. Raymond just before halftime and a 19-yard to Kenmore Gamble on the opening drive of the third quarter. 

Scarlett, one of five players reinstated following a season-long suspension due to a credit-card fraud case, rushed 10 times fo 57 yards, including scoring runs of 7 yards and 1 yard, both coming in the second period. 

"Felt great just being out there, hearing the crowd go crazy as I ran and scoring touchdowns," Scarlett said. 
 
The action, though, was lackluster through a first quarter that ended with the Blue team leading 3-0, thanks to a Trask-directed scoring drive on the opening series, a march capped by a 45-yard field goal by Jorge Powell. Powell's counterpart for the Blue team, Chris Howard, was wide right on a 45-yard try on his team's first series. 

Mullen, probably sensing a need to liven things up, switched the game's tenor to open the second period when he called a play he'd set up the day before.

With the Blue team at the Orange 48-yard line, Trask took the snap and lofted a pass down the right sideline to a helmet-less player running uncovered into the end zone. That player was Wright (albeit a larger version than the one that terrorized receivers on his way to winning the 1996 national championship). Before the fans could figure out what was going on, Wright was being greeted on the Blue sideline for his first touchdown since an interception return in the 1994 Sugar Bowl and putting his team up 10-0. 

On the very next snap from scrimmage, Franks play-faked a sweep to the right to tailback Lamical Perine, saw a gap in the left side, kept the ball and hit the hole. After breaking into the second level, Franks long-strided his way to the far right sideline and out-ran the Blue defense, extending the ball for the final few yards for a 60-yard touchdown jaunt. For his efforts, Franks was scooped up and escorted around the field piggy-back-style, courtesy of defensive back Chauncey Gardner-Johnson.
 
Franks added a 3-yard touchdown run on the next series to put the Orange in front 14-10. 

Scarlett, the 5-foot-10, 213-pounder, scored on a 7-yard run to give the Blue squad a 17-14 lead with just over eight minutes to go before halftime. Scarlett set up his touchdown, which capped a four-play, 60-yard drive, by breaking free for a 27-yard run on the first play of the series. 

Enter Mullen again. 

On the next snap for the Orange, Mullen had both McGriff and one of McGriff's ex-quarterbacks, Doug Johnson, break the huddle. Franks was supposed to pitch a lateral to Johnson, who was to go deep for McGriff. Franks, though, bypassed the middle man and just chucked it himself. 

Franks: "I messed the whole thing up." 

Mullen: "He was padding his stats." 

McGriff's touchdown pushed the Orange back in front 21-17. 

The next two drives ended on with failed fourth downs, including one by the Orange team at its own 24. It took just four plays — the big one a 23-yard Trask-to-Tyrie Cleveland completion to the 2 on a nice back-shoulder toss — to take a 24-21 advantage on a 1-yard run by Scarlett with 1:59 left in the half. The offense took a seat in the end zone and played a quick game of Duck-Duck-Goose to commemorate the moment. 

More fun.

"We told [the officials] no celebration flags," Mullen said.  

The lead stood for just 50 seconds, as Jones answered by finding Raymond on a deep crossing route. Though he appeared to be tackled on the play, Raymond rolled over his defender, never touching the ground, popped up and scooted for the score and 28-24 lead with 1:01 remaining. 

The Orange never trailed after that, as the second half was played with a running clock and almost exclusively with backup players. 
 
The game ended when a quarterback buried on the depth chart (Nick Sproles) hit a fellow future scout-team member (wideout Andres Saldivar ) with a 35-yard strike. The entire Blue team sprinted into the end zone to greet them. What was left of the crowd cheered. 

Like Mullen said, it was a good day. For everyone. 

"Something special is going on here," Franks said. 

If so, it's been a long time coming.