COLUMBIA, Mo. -- As his second regular season in charge of Florida's football program nears an end, Dan Mullen was asked this week about the current trend of schools firing head coaches before their second season is even complete.
Two coaches hired in the same cycle as Mullen -- Florida State's Willie Taggert and Chad Morris of Arkansas -- got the boot the last two weeks.
As you might expect, Mullen is not a fan of the short leash considering what the job entails.
"That's a tough deal,'' he said. "You know, it is what it is. It's a high-profile, high-pressure job that we're in and people expect results. I guess that's become the norm."
Here's the good deal for Mullen: he doesn't have anything to worry about.
The No. 11-ranked Gators (8-2, 5-2) are coming off a 56-0 victory over Vanderbilt and face Missouri (5-4, 2-3) in their final Southeastern Conference regular-season game of the season Saturday at Memorial Stadium. With a victory, Florida can keep its bid alive for a New Year's Six bowl berth and perhaps an SEC East title if No. 4 Georgia was to somehow stumble in its final two SEC games.
Mullen is 18-5 as Florida's head coach and if the Gators can beat Missouri on the road and close the regular season at home Nov. 30 with a win over Florida State, he would have back-to-back 10-win seasons in his pocket.
First, the Gators must beat a Missouri team that is 5-0 at home this season. The Tigers got bounced 27-0 at Georgia but were without starting quarterback Kelly Bryant, who has made a difference when healthy.
"When he's in there, you've got a guy that can extend plays. He brings athletic ability to the quarterback position. We're aware of that,'' UF defensive coordinator Todd Grantham said. "They still run the same plays regardless of who's playing the quarterback position. The biggest thing with him is you're looking at a physical guy that has a physical stature to him at that position that can extend plays and get some positive yards out of them."
For more on Saturday's matchup, here is The Opening Kickoff: THREE QUESTIONS WITH ... GATORS QB EMORY JONES
Emory Jones rushed for three touchdowns in last week's 56-0 win over Vanderbilt. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Q: How does Coach Mullen help you be patient in your role?
A: Patience, it's kind of hard for anybody, especially in my position. But having him around, he always comes and pulls me to the side, tells me 'It's a process,' tells me, 'Just be patient,' and tells me one thing I need to work on. So I just focus on those things.
Q: Has that been more of a challenge this season with Kyle Trask taking over?
A:I kind of knew how it was already. He just told both of us, 'Just stay ready.' When [Feleipe] went down, he came to both of us, like, 'Both of you all are probably going to play the rest of this game.' Kyle went in, he was hot, so there wasn't a reason I had to come in. I've never seen [Trask] get rattled. I think that's the main thing, I've been learning a lot from him. Just seeing him making mistakes and not getting down about it, that's probably the biggest thing I've learned.
Q: What's your outlook toward getting your shot in the future?
A: Coach Mullen, he has worked with all different types of quarterbacks and different systems, and all of them seem to revolve around the quarterback. Right now, it revolves around Kyle until I get into the game, so I feel like when I get that spot eventually, it'll just be crazy. We can do a lot of things. THREE STORYLINES
Florida has not had much success against Missouri since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012. Mizzou has won four of seven overall and two consecutive in the series, outscoring the Gators 83-33 the past two meetings. UF bounced back from its disappointing loss to Georgia with a convincing 56-0 victory over Vanderbilt last week at "The Swamp." The Gators rolled up 560 yards and pitched their third shutout of the season. Missouri is unlikely to be as easy to push around in front of the home faithful at Faurot Field.
The Gators remain in contention for a New Year's Six bowl berth if they can close the regular season with wins over Missouri and at home Nov. 30 against Florida State. Meanwhile, don't forget about the SEC East. While the loss to Georgia gave the Bulldogs control, Georgia has to win at least one of its final two regular-season games (at Auburn, Texas A&M at home) to clinch the division. A win for the Gators at Missouri and a Georgia loss at Auburn on Saturday makes the Georgia-Texas A&M game next week much more interesting for Florida fans.
The Tigers were without starting quarterback Kelly Bryant in last week's 27-0 loss at Georgia. Bryant suffered a hamstring injury the previous week and did not play in Athens. Bryant is expected to be ready to go Saturday and instantly makes the Tigers a much more formidable team. A graduate transfer from Clemson, Bryant is 21-5 as a starter in his career and led Clemson to the College Football Playoff two years ago.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
Missouri has held opponents to just 70.2 yards per rushing at home and is good at building walls defensively to stop the running game, which could mean a busy day for Gators QB Kyle Trask, who is coming off a career-high 363-yard passing game against Vanderbilt. Of course, Missouri leads the SEC in pass defense so something's gotta give as Trask and Co. look to make plays.
UF junior DT Tedarrell Slaton has quietly put together the best back-to-back games of his career. Slaton has six tackles in each of the last two games to provide quality support behind the starting interior tandem of Adam Shuler and Kyree Campbell. The 6-foot-5, 343-pound Slaton is showing signs of tapping into the potential his teammates have raved about since he arrived from American Heritage High in Fort Lauderdale.
Tigers sophomore LB Nick Bolton has emerged as a defensive stopper, leading the SEC in tackles per game (9.1). Bolton has picked up the production lost when Cale Garrett suffered a pectoral injury earlier in the season. Bolton registered nine tackles in last week's loss to Georgia, including two tackles for loss and his first career sack.
THREE DIGITS
35 –Sacks for the Gators through 10 games, two shy of last season's total in 13 games.
147.7– Passing yards per game allowed by Missouri's defense, which ranks first in the SEC in pass defense and fourth in the country.
7 –Consecutive home wins for Missouri at Memorial Stadium. INJURY REPORT
Missouri is a tale of two teams. When they are home, the Tigers have some serious bite. Away from Memorial Stadium, they curl up and take a nap.
Missouri is undefeated at home and winless on the road. Under fourth-year head coach Barry Odom, the Tigers have been at their best in the month of November.
The Tigers had won nine consecutive games in November until last week's loss between the hedges in Athens. Two of those wins came against the Gators.
Check out Missouri's 10-3 November record under Odom in the chart below:
DATE
OPPONENT
RESULT
Nov. 5, 2016
South Carolina
Lost 31-21
Nov. 12, 2016
Vanderbilt
Won 26-17
Nov. 17, 2016
at No. 19 Tennessee
Lost 63-37
Nov. 25, 2016
Arkansas
Won 28-24
Nov. 4, 2017
Florida
Won 45-16
Nov. 11, 2017
Tennessee
Won 50-17
Nov. 18, 2017
at Vanderbilt
Won 45-17
Nov. 24, 2017
at Arkansas
Won 48-45
Nov. 3, 2018
at Florida
Won 38-17
Nov. 10, 2018
Vanderbilt
Won 33-28
Nov. 17, 2018
at Tennessee
Won 50-17
Nov. 23, 2018
Arkansas
Won 38-0
Nov. 9, 2019
at No. 6 Georgia
Lost 27-0
BOTTOM LINE
The Gators are making their fourth trip to Memorial Stadium and have lost two of the first three, their only win a 21-3 victory in 2015. The weather is expected to be cold and with an 11 a.m. local start time, this one has a very un-Florida-like feel to it. Still, the Gators are favored by a touchdown and rebounded nicely from their loss to Georgia with a thumping of Vanderbilt last week at home. Yes, the same Vanderbilt team that upset this Missouri team earlier this season in Nashville. What does that mean in projecting what is going to happen Saturday? Good question. On paper, the Gators should win this one. Missouri is much better at home than on the road, but the Gators are more talented and have more to play for as the regular season winds down. They could take some time to warm up, but if the Gators don't return home to the Sunshine State with a victory, it'll be an upset. Even in a series that has produced some head-scratchers this decade.
