‘I didn’t see it coming,’ Dan Mullen says after Florida’s loss to South Carolina
It was a long night Saturday in Columbia for Dan Mullen and the Florida football team. It came at the conclusion of a long week for the Gators in what’s quickly becoming a difficult 2021 season.
South Carolina defeated Florida 40-17 at Williams-Brice Stadium in a game in which the Gators (4-5) were a three-touchdown favorite.
Mullen was asked afterward if the lopsided outcome stunned him.
“I didn’t see it coming,” Mullen told reporters afterward. “I’m obviously really disappointed. You give them credit. Their guys played really well. They made plays that were there to be made. I’ve coached a long time so I don’t know that stuff is stunning ever to me. I didn’t see the game playing out this way, so I was very disappointed and our players were disappointed.”
South Carolina out-gained Florida 459 yards to 340 — fueled by 284 rushing yards.
The Gators had their most success Saturday throwing the ball, with starting quarterback Emory Jones 17-of-30 passing for 258 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. But Jones and an undisclosed number of his teammates played the game ill, Mullen said.
“I certainly don’t think we gave up,” the coach said. “We faced all kinds of adversity this week and those guys continued to battle.”
Jones tested positive for the flu Saturday morning, according to Mullen, and he wasn’t the only one not feeling well.
“We had anywhere from 20 to 30 guys missing practice every day this week,” Mullen said. “We had several guys not even come out onto the field off the bus. I don’t want to make excuses for those guys.”
A number of Florida players required additional fluids intravenously from the training staff before and during the game, the coach said: “We had a bunch of guys dealing with sickness. We had to fly some guys up separately from the team and keep everybody separated.”
Florida was predicted to finish second in the SEC East in 2021 and give Georgia its best competition in the division. The Gators were off to a 4-2 start — including a two-point loss Sept. 18 to Alabama — before its current three-game losing streak that included a 34-7 loss to No. 1 Georgia a week ago in Jacksonville.
With the 2021 slide, the talk around Gainesville is that Mullen’s employment status is shaky — with one outlet posting Saturday night that Florida leadership “has tough choice to make.”
Mullen didn’t address his own future Saturday night, though he was asked if in-season staff changes were a possibility.
“I’m not going to get into any of that stuff and what we’re going to do,” he said. “We’re going to evaluate where we’re at.”
Dan Mullen record at Florida
- 2018: 10-3
- 2019: 11-2
- 2020: 8-4
- 2021: 4-5
This story was originally published November 7, 2021 at 1:05 AM with the headline "‘I didn’t see it coming,’ Dan Mullen says after Florida’s loss to South Carolina."
