There is a little doubt when watching Feleipe Franks on Saturday that he was feeling a little different almost throughout the whole contest against South Carolina in the Gators 35-31 win. After two weeks of losing football against Georgia and Missouri, Franks was getting the not-so-royal treatment from the fans of the team he plays for. The start of the South Carolina game didn’t help either, but then he seemed to play angry.

As the Florida offensive line started to make some room in the running game, Franks was asked to also run the ball and do so between the tackles where things can get dicey. That kind of approach to the quarterback position was not what Franks was brought to Florida to do, but Saturday he was getting booed from people in the stands, all week long he was being attacked on social media by fans, he started to get quite agitated in the game.

He started running a little angry… and it was effective. Franks finished with 36 yards and two touchdowns on 16 hard runs.

Yes, he was caught up in the anger and he shushed the crowd that was yelling at him. He probably should have stayed away from that and said so after the game when talking to the media, but is this something maybe Franks can harness?

It’s not that he was a world beater on Saturday. But he seemed to be in a zone once he exhibited the angry persona. He said on the final touchdown of the game, a one-yard game, that he called his own number because he was angry.

Yeah I asked for the ball. I always want the ball,” he said. “I just wanted to run somebody over. I was just super pissed. I just wanted to lower my head. I mean I have faith in myself and confidence in myself to go and... especially on fourth and one. I wanted the ball and I wanted to score.

Head coach Dan Mullen said there might be something to him playing with more intensity when he is heated, but warns that might not be the best frame of mind for every situation.

“I didn’t ask him what he was mad about, whether he was he didn’t run it right the play before, or that he didn’t get in the end zone,” Mullen said. “But yeah, at times it can help. If you’re trying to run somebody over, it’s good to be angry. But in managing the game, you have to make sure you balance the two. I’ve always said that with quarterbacks. You gotta be able to use your emotions all over the place, you know what I mean? You gotta go pump up the crowd and get crazy and excited, then the next play be completely locked in in making a three-way check and changing the protections and reading a read and go through your progressions. You gotta be able to control all your different personalities and emotion.”

But there was a point in that game when he heard the boos in the crowd and it was like a button was flipped.



"I mean, I can't really explain what he was thinking or what he was doing. Nonetheless, it happened. he had the, you know what I'm saying, he felt a type of way, and I mean, being in this age, you've got to deal with social media and all that, and I felt like he handled it very gracefully. He could've done any other gesture, and he was just silencing the naysayers and the doubters, who doubted him going into the game, you know what I'm saying. So I felt like, I have respect for what he did, and went out -- and would I have done the same thing, yes. I probably would've done a different gesture, but it's cool."

Senior offensive tackle Fred Johnson loved how Franks ran on Saturday.

"Feleipe Franks, no matter what they say, is a tough individual,” Johnson said. “He's not scared to lower his shoulder. He's not scared to pull the ball, run it, run over a couple people, get up from a tough hit. And he had that on display in the South Carolina game, you know. You have a couple mistakes, you've got to overcome it."



Johnson also thinks that Franks may be a little more in tune with what he is supposed to be doing, when he is a bit angry.



"I feel like he plays… more focused,” Johnson said when asked what he thought of Franks playing with a chip on his shoulder. “… with more intent, more execution when he's angry. I don't feel like he's like rash or rage. Nah, he's very condensed in what he does and how he executes."