Florida head coach Jim McElwain confirms Feleipe Franks will start against Tennessee

Tennessee wasn’t the only program with a public quarterback battle this offseason. The Florida Gators had one of their own. Incoming transfer Malik Zaire was thought to be a lock to start by most on the outside, but redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks bested him in camp.

However, Franks was replaced against Michigan by Zaire, throwing the quarterback depth chart into question once again. Florida head coach Jim McElwain confirmed on Wednesday that Franks would get the start against Tennessee.

Florida was supposed to have a tune-up game against Northern Colorado last weekend, but they were forced to cancel due to Hurricane Irma. McElwain talked about the stress that has brought upon the program and how they’ve been prepping for Tennessee yesterday.

The Gators’ offense was virtually non-existent against the Michigan Wolverines in week one. They struggled to run the ball and never really found their stride in the passing game either. Without two defensive touchdowns, this game could have been even uglier.

Franks was 5-9 for 75 yards when he was pulled for Zaire in the third quarter. Zaire finished up the game, going 9-17 for 106 yards. We’ll see if Zaire is needed against Tennessee.