Florida was dead to rights, trailing Kentucky by 11 late in the third quarter on Saturday, when what looked like a Groundhog Day type redux of last season’s loss to Kentucky went from bad to worse in one play.

The Gators made a puzzling 4th and 1 play call that fell short, snuffing out another Florida drive. Much worse, after being swallowed up by Kentucky’s mammoth defensive line, Feleipe Franks lay on the ground writhing in agony, his leg bent backwards.

Minutes later, surrounded by his teammates and concerned Kentucky players alike, Franks was carted off the field, fighting tears as a hushed Kroger Field offered cheers of respect and support.

For the Gators, the game appeared lost and worse yet, so did their starting quarterback.

Head coach Dan Mullen confirmed the suspected bad news after the football game, telling the media: “(Doctors) feel pretty certain there was a break along with a dislocation and (Franks) is done for the season.”

Franks is a lightning rod off the field, triggering the critiques of the media, armchair quarterbacks, psychiatrists and opposing fan bases alike. But in the Florida locker room, Franks is a well-liked leader, one of the first guys to show up for voluntary workouts and one of the last guys to leave Florida’s football facility every day.

This was a gut punch to a team that shares the Florida live oak sized chip on their rocket-armed quarterback’s shoulder.

But was it a rallying point?

For one night at least, it seemed to be.

The game changed a possession later, when another Gator leader, senior David Reese, made three consecutive grown man tackles of bruising running back A.J. Rose, the last on 4th and 1, to stuff a Kentucky drive. Reese’s final stop came on the first play of the 4th quarter, which would belong to Florida.

The Gators will need reliable veterans like Reese, who finished the game with a staggering 16 tackles, to step up in the weeks to come.

After Florida got the momentum-shifting stop, longtime Franks backup Kyle Trask entered stage left and led Florida on three 4th-quarter touchdown drives, completing 9 of 13 passes for 126 yards and adding a go-ahead TD on the ground with just 4:11 to play.

In a reminder that, as Faulkner wrote, the past is never dead and in fact not even really past, Trask leading the Gators to a victory after trailing by double digits in the fourth quarter echoed Florida’s last trip to Lexington. That time Franks was pulled for another veteran, Luke Del Rio, who pulled the Gators out of the fire.

In fact, Florida has a history of young or backup quarterbacks pulling off unlikely escapes in Lexington, from a freshman named Danny Wuerffel finding Chris Doering in the end zone in 1993 to Chris Leak escaping Lexington a winner with a furious rally in 2003 to Del Rio in 2017 to Trask Saturday night.

Mullen was effusive in his praise for both Trask and redshirt freshman Emory Jones’s preparation.

“We expect composure from Kyle,” Mullen said. “I think we have three guys who have prepared well to be the starting quarterback at Florida. Kyle waited for his moment. He is a starter quality quarterback just like Feleipe is. He came in here and played that way.”

It’s a great story. Is it a sustainable one?

It will need to be on a Florida team that has lofty aspirations but a thin margin for error.

You saw it again Saturday night in Lexington.

Kentucky’s experienced offensive line slowed Florida’s pass rush, which lacked the high-end depth to offset the impact of an early ankle injury that sidelined All-SEC defensive end Jabari Zuniga.

Florida’s rushing attack couldn’t get a push best on best, limiting the ability of its best offensive player, Lamical Perine, to influence the game. The insertion of highly touted redshirt freshman Richard Gouriage for Jean Delance helped a bit in the second half, but it’s mere hope and conjecture to think that’s a season-long upgrade at this point.

Without CJ Henderson, Florida lost its fastest, most physical corner. The Gators produced three vital interceptions, but without Henderson, even the terrific Marco Wilson struggled in one-on-one matchups with physical, athletic wide receivers Ahmad Wagner and Lynn Bowden. Each Wildcats touchdown came on plays where the Gators covered well enough, only to lose physical, athletic one-on-one battles in the secondary.

All told, Florida’s defense surrendered 407 yards but stayed in the game by producing 4 turnovers, including two in the 4th quarter.

In other words, Florida’s margin for error remains small.

Then again, Dan Mullen’s team found a way to win on a night so much went wrong. The Gators aren’t pretty, but they are 3-0.

How much winning they can do moving forward depends on how they respond to life after Feleipe Franks.

Early returns on Trask are good. But it’s one thing to put out a blaze of the moment.

Being the full-time starter is harder. What happens when a defense can game-plan for Trask? What is the impact of his limitations in the run game? Trask doesn’t have Franks’s rocket arm (who does?) — will defenses respect his ability to beat them down the field? Can Florida generate a running game to take pressure off Trask as a passer? What role will Emory Jones play moving forward?

Postgame, Mullen promised to use both, with an extended package for Jones. What will that look like?

Fortunately for Florida, there are two games for the Gators to figure that out before the meat of the SEC schedule hits when Florida hosts Auburn on Oct. 5.

Yes, Tennessee won Saturday. But Trask and Florida’s defense should feast on the Volunteers in Gainesville. And Towson, which follows, promises to be a feel-good tuneup to work out lingering quarterback rotation questions.

But after this most unlikely of rallies in Lexington, the truth is that the Gators might go as far as Trask allows them.

Trask is a terrific story, and as Mullen noted after the game, an unusual one for staying in an era of rapid-fire transfers and graduate transfers. Florida’s locker room believes in him. So does its coach.

“I believe in him. His team believes in him, which you saw,” Mullen said. “You don’t see it much in college football anymore. You don’t see guys like (Trask): Grow, learn, develop, believe in your school. He’s a graduate. Everyone transferring here and there. (Kyle) grew, he learned. And now everyone got to see what kind of quarterback he is.”

Mullen’s confidence is not insignificant. His quarterback resume speaks for itself.

But the hard part comes next.

Right now, we know Kyle Trask is good enough to lead a furious fourth-quarter comeback against a good Kentucky team in Lexington.

We’ll find out how good that is soon enough.