The last time the Florida Gators were in a situation like the weird one they're facing this weekend — playing against a quarterback who left them — there was resentment.
The Gators didn't just want to beat Miami's Brock Berlin during their 2003 matchup. They wanted to hit him so hard his mouth bled.
There doesn't seem to be any simmering hostility like that between No. 6 UF and former quarterback Feleipe Franks. And there shouldn't be.
As Franks prepares to return to Gainesville this weekend as Arkansas' starter, it's clear that their amicable split ended up working out well for Florida, Franks and Arkansas.
Once Dan Mullen took over UF after the 2017 season, Franks was never as bad as the Gators' fan base believed him to be. He deserves some credit for the team's offensive transformation, and he was the offensive MVP of the Peach Bowl win over Michigan that was, at the time, the program's biggest victory in years.
We'll never know what would have happened if Franks hadn't suffered a season-ending ankle injury at Kentucky last year. But we do know that starting that night at Kroger Field, Kyle Trask was the better fit for Mullen's offense.
Franks' 24 touchdown passes in 2018 are the ninth-most in Gators history. Trask already has 22 through five games this year and just torched rival Georgia for UF's biggest win of the Mullen era. The Gators wouldn't be in the College Football Playoff conversation without him.
Because of Trask's breakout 2019, Franks was going to get Wally Pipped if he had stayed in Gainesville.
"The whole thing came down to, 'I want to make sure I'm on the field playing next year,'" Mullen said.
Arkansas was happy to take him.
The Razorbacks had been through their own passing issues. Chad Morris lost his job last November after losing to a Western Kentucky team quarterbacked by former Hogs starter Ty Storey. When Franks entered the transfer portal, Arkansas had a new head coach (Sam Pittman) and new offensive coordinator (former Florida State assistant Kendal Briles) who could give Franks and his NFL-caliber arm the fresh start he needed.
And it's working wonderfully.
Feleipe Franks and Arkansas have been a fantastic story this season. ( BUTCH DILL 5/8 AP )
A year after going 2-10, the Razorbacks will enter UF 3-3 — and would be 4-2, if not for an officiating debacle that robbed them of a win over Auburn. Arkansas' 20-game SEC losing streak is over and, outside of Indiana and Coastal Carolina, the Hogs have been arguably the best story in the sport.
"Just being at the University of Arkansas has been a blessing for me," Franks told Razorbacks reporters after last week's 24-13 win over Tennessee. "These guys had my back every game throughout the season making plays for me. That's all I can ask for."
And so far, he's done all the Razorbacks could ask of him.
He's in the top 30 nationally in passing efficiency (154.73) and completion percentage (67.2). He has already thrown as many touchdown passes (14) as Arkansas had all last season while throwing only three interceptions in Briles' offense. NFL talent evaluators have noticed.
"He's picked it up really fast, and I think he's having a great year," Mullen said. "But I wouldn't have expected anything less than that from him and, you know, the Feleipe I know."
The Feleipe whom Mullen knows will now be starting against him this weekend. It's weird.
But no matter what happens at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, this is clear: The fact that Franks is back in Gainesville starting on the other sideline is what's best for everyone.
