Florida Gators to start Feleipe Franks in opener vs. Michigan Wolverines

All three of Florida’s quarterbacks may see action on Saturday, but Feleipe Franks will be out there to start the game against Michigan

All of the drama surrounding the opening weekend game between the Florida Gators and Michigan Wolverines this Saturday has mostly revolved around Jim Harbaugh not releasing his roster in a timely manner, which he ultimately did on Wednesday. However, Florida had a little drama to add of their own, that being who will start the game under center on Saturday, as they have a slight quarterback issue on their hands. Well, on the same day Harbaugh released his roster, we now have an answer to that as well.

During a Wednesday news conference, head coach Jim McElwain announced that redshirt freshman Feleipe Franks will start the game on Saturday against Michigan. While he’ll start the game in Arlington against the Wolverines, it’s expected the other two quarterback contenders may still get a chance to see the field as they sort all of this out.

Franks, a freshman out of Wakulla High School in Florida, was a highly-touted 4-star prospect coming out of high school, and in the year that the 6-foot-6, 214-pounder has been on campus, he’s apparently shown enough improvement to earn the starting nod in such a high-profile position to start the year.

The freshman gets the nod over Notre Dame senior transfer Malik Zaire — whom many believed would start right off the bat after he chose the Gators — and junior Luke Del Rio.

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This was the most positive news of the day for Florida, as it was announced earlier on Wednesday that two more players had been suspended for the opener, including returning leading rusher Jordan Scarlett. With top returning receiver Antonio Callaway also out due to suspension, the freshman will head into the first, high-pressure start of his career without arguably his top two threats on that side of the ball.