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DALLAS – In his 152 games as a college football head coach, the last 37 of them at Florida,
Dan Mullen has certainly faced improbable circumstances during his career.
Mullen knows about being the underdog. He was head coach at Mississippi State for nine seasons. During that span, the Southeastern Conference West Division in which the Bulldogs call home produced six national champions, five for Alabama and one for Auburn.
Somehow, led by quarterback
Dak Prescott, who now calls AT&T Stadium home, Mississippi State climbed to No. 1 in the polls in 2014. It remains perhaps Mullen's most impressive accomplishment on the sideline.
Fast forward six years and Mullen, in his third season at Florida, had the Gators in contention for the program's first College Football Playoff berth until a last-minute home loss to LSU in the regular-season finale. And then the following week in the SEC Championship Game against No. 1-ranked Alabama, the Gators put up a valiant effort but fell short in a 52-46 shootout.
That leads us to here, where on Wednesday night at AT&T Stadium -- home to Prescott's Dallas Cowboys -- the seventh-ranked Gators (8-3) face No. 6 Oklahoma (8-2) in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl. If you like underdogs, Mullen has one in these Gators, who will take the field minus several standouts for various reasons, including a pair of All-Americans in tight end
Kyle Pitts and receiver
Kadarius Toney.
Few give the Gators a chance. They said the same thing heading into the Alabama game.
What is certain about Wednesday's matchup is that for Florida to compete with the Sooners, it will need production from lesser-known names.
"There's guys who have been in supporting actor roles now that are going into the lead role in the show tomorrow night," Mullen said Tuesday. "I think those guys are excited for that opportunity to get out there and go make plays."
Sophomore cornerback
Kaiir Elam, who made one of the biggest plays in last year's Orange Bowl win over Virginia with a fourth-quarter interception, was one of those "supporting actors" in 2019. He became a team leader in 2020.
Elam doesn't want to end the season on a three-game losing streak, regardless of who is playing and who is not.
"I feel like this game is a big game for us," Elam said. "I don't like to lose. I know my coaches and everybody on the staff does not like to lose."
For more on Wednesday's game between the Gators and Sooners, here is
The Opening Kickoff:
FOUR QUESTIONS WITH GATORS QUARTERBACK KYLE TRASK
Gators quarterback Kyle Trask enters the Cotton Bowl with a school-record 4,125 yards passing and 43 touchdowns this season. (Photo: Alex de la Osa/UAA Communications)
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What impact has Coach Mullen had in your time together at Florida?
"From the get-go, he gave me a chance to play here. And I know the last coaching staff were the ones who gave me a chance to play at a big-time university, but at the same time, I have a lot of respect for Coach Mullen because he's the one that ultimately gave me that start to get on the field."
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With the opt-outs, what type of opportunity is this for younger players?
"It's a huge opportunity. Every time you get a chance to get on the football field, you've got to make the most of it. And I think we have a lot of up-and-coming weapons that a lot of fans are going to get to know before they really break out in this bowl game."
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Do you think the Gators can be explosive on offense next season?
"Yeah, I mean, nobody expected us to have the kind of year that we had this year when we had all those NFL receivers leave. But this is what we do here at Florida. As soon as we have big-time guys leave and move on, we have more big-time guys step in and continue that winning tradition."
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Do you know you're not actually the first person in your family to play in the Cotton Bowl?
"Yeah, actually, my dad texted me the other day and told me that my grandpa played in the Cotton Bowl, I think, 1954, when Rice University beat Alabama."
Editor's note: Trask's late grandfather, former NFL and Rice defensive lineman Orville Trask, was a member of the 1953 Rice team that beat the Crimson Tide 28-6 on New Year's Day in the 1954 Cotton Bowl.
THREE STORYLINES
- Due to player opt-outs and COVID testing, the Gators will be severely short-handed on offense without tight end Kyle Pitts and receivers Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland. Coupled with back-to-back losses to LSU and Alabama, how will the Gators respond? That is the question on everyone's mind.
- The Sooners have won seven consecutive games since back-to-back losses to Kansas State and Iowa State early in the season. Oklahoma is also one of two Power 5 programs (Clemson is the other) to rank in the top 20 nationally in both total offense and defense. The Gators will be challenged on both sides of the ball.
- This is Florida's first appearance in the Cotton Bowl, one of college football's most historic postseason games. The 25-percent capacity crowd at AT&T Stadium will be heavy for the Sooners, providing the Gators will additional motivation if they embrace the role of spoiler.
THREE PLAYERS TO WATCH
FIVE DIGITS
3 – Consecutive New Year's Six bowl appearances for the Gators
6 – Consecutive New Year's Six bowl appearances for the Sooners
34 – Combined touchdown receptions this season for Gators
Kyle Pitts (12),
Kadarius Toney (10),
Trevon Grimes (9) and
Jacob Copeland (3)
54 – Bowl appearances for Oklahoma, tied for fourth nationally among FBS schools
46 – Bowl appearances for Florida, which is 14th all-time among FBS programs
INJURY REPORT
QUESTIONABLE: DB
Rashad Torrence II (shoulder), LB
David Reese (shoulder), LB
Jeremiah Moon (foot);
OUT: TE
Kyle Pitts (opt-out), WR
Trevon Grimes (opt-out), WR
Kadarius Toney (opt-out), WR
Jacob Copeland (medical), CB
Marco Wilson (opt-out), S
Shawn Davis (undisclosed), DB
Ethan Pouncey (hip, out for season);
UNAVAILABLE: During the unprecedented 2020 season, Florida releases a list of players not available on game days prior to kickoff.
THEY SAID IT
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"This is our third straight New Year's Six bowl game and in the previous two years we had a grand total of one opt-out. This year is just such a unique deal. The stresses and pressures that these guys have been under this year, I think it's led to everybody to be in a little bit of a different mental state." -- Gators head coach
Dan Mullen on his team's opt-outs
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"Are there going to be a couple of players here and there through the years that maybe think the bowl game is not that important? There may be. But we've got to be careful to [not] take the one or two percent and say 'Well, that's how everybody feels.' There's a big percentage of both our football teams that are going to be pretty excited to play this game tomorrow night, so I tend to go with the majority and think these games are still pretty darn important." -- Sooners coach Lincoln Riley, whose team will be without senior CB Tre Brown due to an opt-out
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"Nobody else can stay there. It's just the two teams. Every exit has a security person on it, so we're going to do everything we can [to ensure proper safety measures]. Our week has been reduced. It's not the same but the enthusiasm of our staff and everything we're trying to do with the administrations is still the same. We're going to have a great game." -- Bry Patton, Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Chairman, to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on the protocols at the hotel both teams are staying at in Dallas
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"I have nothing but love and respect for Coach Grantham. Part of the reason I feel like fans are probably mad at him, because it's on the defense and us not executing, which he's not on the field playing, so how can you get mad at him? I feel like it's on us to execute his play calling and just on us to step up." -- Gators cornerback
Kaiir Elam on criticism of defensive coordinator
Todd Grantham
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"I feel like there's still a notion that we don't have a lot of respect as a defense when playing against those types of teams. So going against Florida, it's a great opportunity. There's a huge opportunity in front of us to prove ourselves as a defense and show we belong with one of the best in the nation." -- Oklahoma linebacker Nik Bonitto on facing Florida's offense
THEY WROTE IT
NOTES FILE
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The Gators are 24-21 all-time in bowl games and have won three in a row; Oklahoma is 29-23-1 all-time in bowl games.
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Florida is 0-1 all-time at AT&T Stadium, losing 33-17 to Michigan in the 2017 season opener; Oklahoma is 5-2 at the home of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.
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Florida head coach
Dan Mullen is 7-2 all-time in bowl games, including a 2-0 record with the Gators. Sooners coach
Lincoln Riley is 0-3 in bowl games.
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Riley promoted Ryan Dougherty, who has been in a special teams/analyst position, to fill the role on the staff created by the departure of assistant Shane Beamer, who left to replace former Gators head coach Will Muschamp at South Carolina.
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Oklahoma's defense has more interceptions (13) this season than it has allowed touchdown passes (11).
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Florida junior cornerback
Marco Wilson, who is skipping the Cotton Bowl, made 35 career starts, the most of any player on the roster.
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Gators junior
Kyle Pitts finished his career with 1,492 yards receiving, UF's all-time career leader among tight ends.
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UF senior receiver
Kadarius Toney, who caught 25 passes for 443 yards and three touchdowns in his final three games, finished the season with 984 yards receiving, 16 shy of becoming the first UF receiver with 1,000 or more yards in a single season since
Taylor Jacobs (1,088) in 2002.
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Sooners redshirt freshman Spencer Rattler is the Oklahoma's fourth starting quarterback in four seasons, following Baker Mayfield (2017), Kyler Murray (2018) and Jalen Hurts (2019).
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UF fourth-year junior running back
Malik Davis needs 48 yards to reach the 1,000-yard career mark.
THE OTHER SIDE
On the day he was hired to replace Bob Stoops in 2017, Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley was the nation's youngest head coach (33) leading an FBS program.
The Sooners made a good hire.
Riley has led the Sooners to four consecutive Big 12 titles and his .846 winning percentage (44-8) currently is the best in school history, edging Oklahoma legend Barry Switzer (.837) atop the school's all-time list.
A Texas Tech graduate, Riley paid his dues early under former Red Raiders coach Mike Leach, now at Mississippi State. He eventually made his way to Norman to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach under Stoops. In his time with the Sooners, Riley has mentored two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, and a runner-up in Jalen Hurts.
Like Gators head coach Dan Mullen, Riley is known for devising explosive offenses. The Sooners led the Big 12 this season in total offense (475.8 yards per game), scoring offense (41.8 points per game), yards per play (6.7) and passing offense (321.6 ypg).
Here is a glance into Riley's offensive mind:
BOTTOM LINE
A month ago Florida was in the College Football Playoff conversation. On Tuesday, Coach
Dan Mullen was asked why quarterback
Kyle Trask is even playing in the Cotton Bowl in the wake of losing the bulk of his receiving power. That's how much the tone around the Gators has changed. Mullen said he's learned you never count Trask out and that playing in a bowl game is a meaningful experience in college football. Regardless of which side of the fence you stand on players opting out and whether the Gators care about Wednesday night's Cotton Bowl, there is plenty to play for, especially for the young players auditioning for bigger roles next season. The reality is that nobody is giving the undermanned Gators much of a chance. This one will go either of two ways: Florida gets blown out, or the Gators pull off a shocker like LSU did at The Swamp earlier this month. There doesn't appear to be any middle ground.
