Dan Mullen and his Florida Gators were recently taken to the woodshed by an Oklahoma Sooners team that was out for blood. The game started with star Florida QB, and Heisman finalist, Kyle Trask throwing three picks in the first quarter. One of those interceptions, a pick-six by Tre Norwood on Trask’s third throw of the game, really opened up the scoring. The Sooners got out to a 17-0 lead before miscues let Florida get within striking distance. After the Gators scored 13 unanswered points to make it a 17-13 game, they internally combusted. Oklahoma went on to score 38 straight points, absolutely embarrassing the Gator defense. Florida would add a meaningless touchdown to make the final score 55-20. May I remind you, this game was #6 vs #7.
To add insult to injury, Sooners’ fans started chanting “SEC” after OU went up 55-13.
If you are unfamiliar with the previews of this game, Florida was without its top four receiving threats, three to opt-outs and one to COVID, a starting safety and linebacker, and star LSU shoe thrower, Marco Wilson. Oklahoma had a couple of players that were teetering on the opt-out line but didn’t have many gone. Florida was a 3 point favorite, but with all of that going on, the line flipped. By game time the Gators were an 8.5 underdog.
Dan Mullen’s Response
Mullen decided that he was going to use those opt-outs as an excuse for his team’s garbage performance.
Here are a couple of his statements:
I thought it fitting to analyze each of Mullen’s statements because of how well his team played.
“The last game this 2020 team played was 11 days ago.”
So apparently that game never happened. Florida didn’t actually play that game because the SEC Championship game was their last one. This team was just a random band of misfits Mullen chose to coach last minute. He had no clue the players he had on his team or who they were playing for ten days. There was no way he could’ve possibly game planned.
What a load of BS from Mullen. You knew exactly what you had going into this game, and if you were actually a good coach, you would’ve prepared for not having those players.
“We didn’t have to play.”
But they didn’t actually have to play the game. We, the viewers, were lucky they even chose to play this game. They could’ve said no because there’s no point in playing the game. Now that I think about it, I don’t know why they even played because it’s just the Cotton Bowl, not a vaunted SEC matchup with Vanderbilt. The thing that separates Mullen from other coaches, though, is he understands that you can only claim that you didn’t need to play after you lose by 35 points. You can’t do that before the game because then it makes you look bad, but say it after and it’s all good.
Technically Mullen is right here, they didn’t have to play the game. The thing is, they did play the game. They played and got crushed. I didn’t see Mullen claiming they didn’t need to play the game before kickoff. It’s only because they got embarrassed that he decides to say it. When that game kicks off, the head coach is responsible for what happens in that game. Mullen is responsible for the murder we saw.
“I thought our scout team guys played well.”
Give credit to the scout team because they were awesome. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a scout team made up of 4 and 5-star players play that well in my life. I mean, these are kids that are so bad at football that they are playing at the University of Florida, a perennial football failure. So good on these kids for keeping the game that close. Who knows what would have happened if they had actually good players on their team.
This response from Mullen pisses me off the most. He’s the damn head coach of the team and decides to throw his players under the bus by calling them, scout players. Imagine playing your ass off for sixty minutes only for your coach to call you a scout player. Last I checked, the Gators only had seven players opt-out. They only lost receivers, so why couldn’t they get their run game going? They only lost three starters on defense, so why did they get torched for nearly 700 yards?
Another thing, aren’t these so-called “scout players” players that Mullen and his staff recruited to play at Florida? It wasn’t like you were just handed a random ragtag group of kids that have never played football. These are kids that you wanted here. Kids that were good enough at football to play at one of the marquee schools in the country.
“It Just Means More”
I thought that football meant more in the SEC. That would explain why Florida had more opt-outs than Oklahoma, right, because the Sooners play in the SEC. Oh yeah, that’s right, Florida plays in the SEC, not Oklahoma. So if football means more down south, then why did so many players decide not to play?
Well if you think about it, the Gators just weren’t motivated to play. They weren’t motivated to play just like Auburn wasn’t against UCF in 2017.
I’m sick and tired of the SEC using excuses to justify themselves getting beat in bowl games. Not being motivated is not an excuse for losing. When you step on that field you are subject to whatever happens, so you better be ready.
Mullen’s answers are an indictment on the SEC and their superiority complex than anything. They think they’re so above everyone else that when they lose it’s just a fluke, or they don’t have the motivation, or they didn’t have all of their best players.
For the self-proclaimed best conference in college football, they sure do come up with a lot of excuses.
