Tag: Feleipe Franks

Florida Gators benefit from the new 2020 SEC football schedule

All in all, it was a good day for the Gators. Not only did they avoid Alabama, but both their new matchups provide some intrigue for fans.

On Friday evening, the SEC announced updated 10-game conference-only schedules for each of its 14 teams. Teams retained the previously scheduled eight conference games, and two more opponents from the opposite division were added to complete the schedule.

All in all, it was a good day for the Gators. Not only did they avoid Alabama (their scheduled SEC West opponent in 2021 who many expected they’d be forced to play this year), but both their new matchups provide some intrigue for fans.

At home, Florida draws Arkansas and former UF quarterback Feleipe Franks, who transferred to play his final season of eligibility in Fayetteville after missing most of the 2019 season with an ankle injury. We’ll get to see current starting quarterback Kyle Trask go head to head with Franks, who he used to back up, in the Swamp.

The Razorbacks had perhaps the worst day of anyone in the conference. In addition to playing every opponent in the SEC West, UA added Georgia in addition to UF as its new interdivisional opponents, leading to what athletic director Hunter Yurachek called the “most challenging schedule in the history of college football.”

On the road, the Gators take on longtime foe Jimbo Fisher and Texas A&M. Fisher, who formerly won a national title at Florida State, has yet to face Florida at his new post in College Station. In the last matchup between the Gators and Aggies in 2017, UF lost at home the season before Fisher and Gators coach Dan Mullen were hired at their respective schools.

While it certainly could have been worse for Florida, the real winners of the schedule release were teams at the top of the conference: LSU, Alabama and Georgia. The Tigers made out perhaps the best, drawing Vanderbilt and Missouri, while the Crimson Tide’s East opponents are Kentucky and Missouri.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, got even luckier with their West opponents than Florida did, drawing Arkansas in addition to Mississippi State. However, UGA was already previously scheduled to take on both Auburn and Alabama, and those games are still on, as of now.

After Arkansas, the SEC’s biggest loser on Friday has to be Missouri. Like Arkansas’ Sam Pittman, Mizzou coach Eliah Drinkwitz will have to navigate an incredibly difficult Year 1 conference schedule, having added LSU and Alabama to their SEC slate. Though the Tigers’ postseason ban is lifted heading into 2020, getting there will be difficult for Drinkwitz.

Dates and times for these matchups are currently unclear and could be announced at a later time to allow for more flexibility in scheduling as the situation regarding COVID-19 remains dynamic.

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2020 Notre Dame Opponent Lands Florida QB Transfer

Former Florida quarterback and grad-transfer Feleipe Franks announced Monday he would be transferring to Arkansas for his fifth year.

At first glance the Notre Dame home opener isn’t against a stunning opponent as the Arkansas Razorbacks make their first trip to Notre Dame Stadium.  However, when the two programs meet for the first time in each other’s history the Razorbacks will do so with more intrigue than perhaps previously thought.

Arkansas is coming off an embarrassing 2-10 season in which they fired Chad Morris with just two games remaining.  Barry Lunney, Jr. coached the final two games of 2019 in an interim role before the school announced Georgia’s offensive line coach Sam Pittman to be their head coach in early-December.

Pittman doesn’t appear to be wasting any time upping the talent at Arkansas as he has found his quarterback for 2020.

Former Florida quarterback and grad-transfer Feleipe Franks announced Monday he would be transferring to Arkansas for his fifth year.

Franks started 13 games for Florida in 2018 and helped lead the Gators to a massive turnaround, going 10-3 and winning the Peach Bowl over Michigan.  He threw for 2457 yards that season with 24 touchdowns and just six interceptions while adding seven more scores on the ground.

Franks broke his ankle in Florida’s third game of 2019 and missed the remainder of the season.

Arkansas will be the third SEC opponent to visit Notre Dame Stadium the last four seasons, joining Georgia in ’17 and Vanderbilt in ’18.

Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the SEC

Recapping an eventful college football Sunday in the Southeastern Conference

After Georgia defeated Georgia Tech on Saturday to advance its playoff hopes another week, the college football world began to take a turn.

Sure, there was the Iron Bowl, which virtually eliminated Alabama from playoff contention, but that was an afterthought by Sunday afternoon.

The Sunday after the final day of the college football regular season began to work its magic, or terror, depending on who you are.

Arkansas’ Chad Morris was already fired weeks ago, but Sunday brought the end to the Barry Odom and Matt Luke era’s in the conference, at least for now.

 

Though both firings make sense, they didn’t go as easily as the athletic departments had initially planned. Odom, dealing with a program on probation from the postseason for 2019, kept every returning player on the roster last spring. Meanwhile, Luke guided the Rebels through a couple probation years of their own, to what seemed like a bright future with John Rhys Plumlee at quarterback.

Neither coach ever pulled any massive upsets or got their teams into the Top 15, but a case could be made on retaining them for a few more seasons. However, this is the current age of college football, where change is to be expected.

If you thought we were done, you’re in for an even bigger twist. Remember Feleipe Franks and Jake Bentley, the quarterbacks many picked to upset Georgia in 2018? Well, they’re gone too.

Franks, the uber-confident three-year Florida starter, took to Instagram to announce he intended to transfer out of Gainesville or enter the NFL Draft. As for Bentley, it’s on to a new path as well, after having an almost identical storyline to Franks’ in 2019.

Both quarterbacks suffered unfortunate season-ending injuries at the beginning of the season and saw their jobs get taken by once unproven backups in Kyle Trask and Ryan Hilinski.

The future in Athens seems much more clear, with Fromm returning for his senior year and Smart coaching another season on the sidelines almost a sure thing.

Of course, we have no confirmation that Fromm will return, but it seems very likely at the moment.

As of right now, this is where we’re at. However, it wouldn’t be a shock if South Carolina’s Will Muschamp gets sent packing in the next couple of days, though several minor changes have already been made in Columbia.

Stay tuned to UGA Wire throughout the week as we bring you the latest on the changes coming to the SEC.