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Neither of them was supposed to do this.
Five years ago, Gators quarterback Kyle Trask was a senior quarterback at Manvel High School backing up current Miami quarterback D’Eriq King. The two-star recruit signed with Florida in a move many fans questioned. After all, why would UF want a quarterback who couldn’t even start at his high school?
Fast-forward to 2020, and Trask is setting the college football world ablaze. He has 10 passing touchdowns through two games, and he’s off to the best start of any Gators passer since Rex Grossman in 2001, who very nearly won the Heisman as a freshman that year.
His favorite target is tight end Kyle Pitts, who was a top recruit at his position. But even those most bullish on Pitts could have never seen the level of production that he has brought in 2020 coming.
Pitts has six touchdowns and 227 yards in UF’s first two games, a start unparalleled by any tight end in the modern era.
Both Kyles are receiving Heisman attention, and a feature from ESPN’s Alex Scarborough explores the relationship between the two and how they developed into the SEC’s most fearsome offensive duo.
This season the tandem has not only taken the SEC by storm but college football as a whole. The phrase “K2K” became a trending topic on Twitter when Trask found Pitts for four touchdowns in the season opener against Ole Miss.
Through two games, Pitts already has six touchdowns, which is tied for second most over a two-game span by an SEC player in the past 25 seasons. Trask, meanwhile, has become only the third player in conference history to have 10 passing touchdowns through his team’s first two games. The last player to do that was Tim Couch of Kentucky in 1998, and he went on to become a Heisman Trophy finalist.
ESPN’s Heisman Watch currently has Trask in second place and Pitts in fifth.
Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, who has to contend with the Kyle-to-Kyle connection at Kyle Field this Saturday (Kyleageddon, if you will), gave both high praise at his press conference on Monday.
Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher gushed over Pitts on Monday, telling reporters that he was a tight end with wide receiver speed and the ability to catch contested passes. “When he’s covered,” Fisher marveled, “he’s still not covered.”
“And Trask does a really good job,” Fisher added. “I think [he’s] one of the best of the quarterbacks throwing to covered guys and throwing them open. And what I mean is putting the ball where they can get it, no one else can get it and they use the size and length and the ball skills to adjust. It’s a combination of Trask and [Pitts].”
Trask trusts Pitts to go up and get the ball. In the season-opening win over Ole Miss, Pitts was double covered on two of his four touchdowns. But Trask fired the ball in where only Pitts and his 6-foot-6-inch frame could grab it.
Pitts said the connection between the two is “one of a kind.”
Gators tight end coach Tim Brewster talked about how the confluence of talent and mental capability allow Pitts to compete at such a high level.
“His athletic skill is on another level,” Brewster said. “He’s rare, absolutely rare as an athlete. And then you combine his mental perspective, and you see a guy who is playing the game at an extremely high level.”
Pair that with Trask and it’s no wonder they’re having the success they are, and in turn the success as a whole of Florida’s offense, which ranks fourth in the FBS in points per game (44.5).
Coming over from Texas A&M this offseason, Brewster said he has been blown away by the work ethic of the team. Everyone at Florida is talented, but the extra reps during and after practice is what separates the good from great. “And Trask and Pitts are two guys that lead the way with that,” he said.
It will certainly be difficult for Trask and Pitts to both maintain the record-setting paces they’re on. But the connection between the two is the focal point of Florida’s offense, and as long as they’re in sync, success on the offensive side of the ball should follow.
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