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The coronavirus (COVID-19) and the individual proceeding approaches conferences have taken have thrown a wrinkle in the annual midseason award watch lists.
Despite these differences, ESPN’s Bill Connelly used the information we do have, while considering the student-athletes yet to take the field, to hand out his “midseason” awards on October 19.
Two Florida Gators juniors received a nod from Connelly and the team earned some recognition, as well.
Beginning with the team, he named Florida’s offense as one of the five best in America, along with the Alabama Crimson Tide, BYU Cougars, Memphis Tigers and Virginia Tech Hokies.
Having scored at least 38 points in all three of their games, the Gators are averaging 464 yards per game, the 18th-best total in the country.
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The young man at the controls of this potent attack, redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Trask, has tossed 14 touchdown passes and just one interception in three games, putting him on pace to surpass Danny Wuerffel’s single-season school record of 39, set in his Heisman Trophy-winning 1996 campaign.
This pace will be difficult to maintain, but if Trask is able to do so, it would be even more impressive considering Florida will play only 10 regular-season games in 2020, instead of their usual 12.
On the receiving end of half of Trask’s touchdowns has been tight end Kyle Pitts, who was identified by Connelly as the frontrunner for the John Mackey Award.
Presented annually since 2000 to college football’s most outstanding tight end, Memphis redshirt senior Sean Dykes occupied second-place on Connelly’s rankings, while the Ole Miss Rebels’ Kenny Yeboah, another redshirt senior, slotted in third.
Penn State Nittany Lions junior Pat Freiermuth, who will begin his season on Saturday in Bloomington against the Indiana Hoosiers, was labeled a “late-arriving threat” in the rankings.
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Pitts, a likely first-round selection in the 2021 National Football League Draft, has caught 17 passes for 274 yards thus far in 2020, placing him on track to establish career-highs in both categories. His seven touchdown receptions are already a career-best.
The other Florida student-athlete to receive this honor from Connelly was kicker Evan McPherson, who was second on his Lou Groza Award rankings.
Handed out each year since 1992 to the best placekicker in the sport, the ESPN Staff Writer labeled Miami Hurricanes redshirt senior Jose Borregales as the favorite to be the recipient and placed BYU redshirt sophomore Jake Oldroyd third on his list.
A three-year starter, McPherson is five-for-five on his field goal attempts in 2020, including a 55-yarder in the season-opening victory over Ole Miss, which is tied for the third-longest in school history.
The Gators, who lost, 41-38, in their last action against the Texas A&M Aggies on October 10, will have had three full weeks off by the time they next suit up on October 31, Halloween, against the Missouri Tigers in Gainesville.
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