Feleipe Franks says big win a boost for confidence, offense shows loads of potential

Early returns from the Feleipe Franks-Dan Mullen relationship are extremely positive for the Florida Gators.

The Florida quarterback passed for five touchdowns in a 53-6 thumping of Charleston Southern in Dan Mullen’s first game as the Gators’ coach. It was quite the turnaround from Franks under coach Jim McElwain last season when he had nine TD passes in 11 games.

“It was a good thing for all our players’ confidence,” he said after the game. “Everybody played tremendous tonight, whether it be the line, tight ends, receivers, the other quarterbacks that got in. We all did our part, our job.”

It was a welcome sight for Florida faithful, who have watched the Gators struggle with lackluster offenses the last several years that have been at or near the bottom of the SEC. Some hoped that performance was a glimpse of what could come for the Gators, and Franks said that could be the case soon.

“We’re just now hitting the surface and not even getting into what our potential is,” he said. “A little snippet of what our first game was like, our guys are excited about our first SEC game next week.”

The Gators will play host to Kentucky this week in a 7:30 p.m. ET game on the SEC Network.

“Tonight was fun.” — @18franks#TheSwamp 🐊 #GoGators pic.twitter.com/VtL3bJO7tu

— Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 2, 2018

Keith Farner

A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.