Mullen Explains Several Lingering Questions From Defeat

Gators head coach Dan Mullen during Saturday's loss at Kentucky. (Photo: Courtney Culbreath/UAA Communications)

Mullen Explains Several Lingering Questions From Defeat

Monday, October 4, 2021 | Football, Scott Carter

By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The players had a designated day off on Monday. Gators head coach Dan Mullen probably wished he had one too following his Monday press conference.

The No. 20-ranked Gators (3-2, 1-2) host Vanderbilt (2-3, 0-1) on UF Homecoming this Saturday, but Mullen spent the majority of his media availability rehashing the demoralizing 20-13 loss at Kentucky that set off a rush-the-field celebration in Lexington, costing the Wildcats a $250,000 fine from the Southeastern Conference.

As Kentucky fans rushed from the stands and turned Kroger Field into a huge block party, the Gators exited with one of their most disappointing losses since Mullen took over the program in 2018. Florida dropped to fourth in the SEC East and two games behind co-leaders Kentucky and Georgia.

In the wake of the defeat, the most diehard critics armed with a keyboard and strong dose of vitriol have posed questions ranging from legit (why so many penalties?), to reasonable (what was Mullen's thinking at the end of the first half?), to the absurd (how could Mullen smile as he approached Kentucky coach Mark Stoops at midfield after the game?).

There's no smiling in football. Or maybe that's not actually true and Saturday was just #NationalNoSmilingInFootballDay on social media.

Whatever the case, Mullen was asked if a lack of urgency factored into the loss.

"Not at all,'' he said. "Not in any way, shape or form – I promise you that."

What's not up for debate is the primary reason Florida lost. Anyone watching on TV, listening on the radio or stretched out at the 50-yard line on Saturday night should be able to pinpoint the culprit: 15 penalties for 115 yards.

Despite all those flags, including eight false-start penalties, Florida had first-and-goal at Kentucky's 5-yard line inside a minute left to play and an opportunity to force overtime. Instead, the Gators moved backwards with the help of their 15th and final penalty, before quarterback Emory Jones' pass to Trent Whittemore on fourth down from the Wildcats' 8 sealed their fate.

Game over. Vanderbilt up next.

But first, the questions arrived fast and furious on Monday.

What was it with all the penalties?

"That's on me,'' Mullen said. "The penalties are on me. It's my responsibility to make sure the discipline this team plays with and executes at a high level. I'd love to say it's more than that, but you go watch the film and it's pretty obvious."

Every starter on the offensive line was flagged at least once and Mullen said he and offensive line coach John Hevesy will take a closer look at whatever issues may have contributed to the group's sloppy play, which was magnified due to how well the offensive line played against No. 1-ranked Alabama two weeks earlier.

Another question raised after the game was how much impact did the crowd noise have as Jones, when in the shotgun, signaled for the snap by using a clap of the hands.

Why not go to a silent snap count using a visual cue?

"That's something we'll look at with our guys,'' Mullen said. "[A clap snap is] something we use and most teams around the country use. It's something we're looking at to make sure we're communicating everything the right way."

Meanwhile, the questions continued about what went wrong for the Gators in their first loss at Kentucky since 1986. Florida's bid to repeat as SEC East champion took a major blow and the Gators will need a lot of help to have a chance to return to Atlanta in December.

What was up at the end of the first half when the Gators took over at their 13-yard line with 1:56 left before halftime, leading 10-7? Why did they not use any of their remaining three timeouts and try to drive for a score?

On the first two plays of the drive, Jones completed passes to Justin Shorter and Whittemore to move the Gators to the 24. However, on the next two plays tailback Malik Davis rushed for seven yards on first down and three on second, ending the half.

"We went out there looking for explosive plays. I think Emory had to check it down a couple times and all the sudden we really hadn't moved the ball very much and the clock's under 30 seconds," Mullen said "It wasn't like we weren't going to look to take a shot. Two of those plays we called to see if we can take a shot down the field. They bailed everybody back, we checked it down. Now you're looking at the clock and you're a play away from having to punt and they potentially get good field position."

The game turned in the second half when Kentucky's Josh Paschal blocked a Jace Christmann field goal attempt and Trevin Wallace returned it 76 yards to put the Wildcats up 13-10. Kentucky stretched the lead to 20-10 on Chris Rodriguez Jr.'s 9-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and the Wildcats smelled the upset.

When it became a reality, Mullen jogged to midfield to greet Stoops for the postgame handshake. On his way there, TV cameras captured a brief grin on Mullen's face, and someone took a screenshot and shared it on social media.

A small (but loud) segment of Gators fans protested on social media and pretty soon the clip went viral.

Invariably, Mullen was asked about the smile on Monday. How could that happen in that situation?

"In my mind, at that point, I'm thinking about everything that went on during the course of the game,'' he said. "What we did well, things we have to improve. I'm thinking about how I want to talk to the team, how we've got to build it back up. We have a whole long season to go play ahead of us.

"I don't know. If you keep a camera on me the entire game, you'll probably catch me doing all kinds of things that probably would be like, 'Boy, I wonder why he's doing that at this very second.' "

Finally, before moving on to face the Commodores on Saturday, Mullen answered another question that had some fans fired up during the game. Actually, Mullen has answered this one all season.

While Jones passed for 203 yards and rushed for 63, backup quarterback Anthony Richardson played sparingly. He completed his only pass for eight yards and rushed five times for 25 yards.

Did Richardson get hurt? Will he play more in the future?

"Oh no, he was fine,'' Mullen said. "We'll look at it. Depends on our game plan week to week and how practice goes."

Win or lose, some questions stay the same.