Mullen Points at Florida Gators Future Regarding Cotton Bowl Approach
On Dec. 22, Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen said that UF anticipated "one or two more" opt-outs from the Cotton Bowl after star tight end Kyle Pitts had done so.
It's unclear just how many opt-outs there actually were, as just four were made publicly known by players or reports. But between that Dec. 22 media availability and Dec. 30, Florida's tally of absences grew far beyond a few special players looking toward the future.
Rather, according to Mullen after the Cotton Bowl, UF was missing "about 25" scholarship players against the Oklahoma Sooners.
The results were about what you would have expected, if you knew that was going to be the case entering Wednesday night. The Sooners blew the Gators out of the water by a score of 55-20, snapping Florida's two-game New Year's Six Bowl winning streak and ending the Gators' 2020 season with three consecutive losses.
Mullen knew this was coming as well, and he shared as much in Tuesday's head coaches press conference. He acknowledged that Florida would have "about 60" scholarship players available and that UF knew who would and wouldn't be making the trip to Arlington, Texas, beforehand.
With that being considered, Mullen pulled his foot off the gas.
"You look at the experience we were able to get out there on the field tonight, all the different young guys," Mullen explained after the loss.
"A lot of the guys that were out there playing tonight were on the scout team most of the year for us ... we kept things simple. Some simple things for them, because they just haven't really had the chance to even to play with the within the normal game plan week."
In total, 61 players took the field for the Gators on Wednesday night, according to the gamebook, including 15 true freshmen. Per Mullen, Florida was actually qualified to pull out of the game according to roster number guidelines, but the motivated youth across the squad opted to play.
With four of his top five pass-catchers out, redshirt senior quarterback Kyle Trask struggled mightily. He threw three interceptions in the first quarter and was pulled from game action entirely come the second half. Yet, his heir at quarterback, redshirt sophomore Emory Jones, flashed the potential that Mullen wanted to see, while true freshman QB Anthony Richardson threw his first career touchdown by the end.
Florida managed to distribute the ball as wide as it had all year, but to underwhelming end results. Although the passing game didn't move at its usual will, 12 different receivers caught a pass, with 13 total catches being spread around first and second-year players.
Redshirt freshman running back Nay'Quan Wright gave Florida's offense life when he was used, albeit sparingly, gaining 44 yards on four rushes and another 13 on two receptions.
Sophomore Ethan White and redshirt freshman Michael Tarquin both entered the game on the offensive line at various points. Those moves came partially out of need given redshirt senior Jean Delance's struggles at right tackle all season long, but also helps prepare UF for the expected departure of numerous starters across the unit this offseason.
Sophomore BUCK rush end Khris Bogle, who began the season as a starter but got lost in the depth a bit after missing the Texas A&M earlier in the year, was really the lone bright spot for an otherwise putrid defensive outing for the Gators. The sophomore picked up four tackles, a strip-sack (with the help of true freshman linebacker Derek Wingo), and a pass breakup. Redshirt freshman Lloyd Summerall III recorded Florida's only other sack.
Sophomore cornerback Jaydon Hill, another player who has flashed throughout the season but was questionably held behind struggling redshirt junior Marco Wilson on the depth chart for the most part of 2020, tallied three pass breakups.
Heck, true freshman punter Jeremy Crawshaw split duties with redshirt senior Jacob Finn, handling two punts with one pinned at the Oklahoma 11 yard line from 48 yards away.
"So I think you're able to see us, by playing so many players tonight, guys have experienced their stuff now that they know they can go build off of and learn from," said Mullen. "They know now, 'Hey, when I step on the field in a big game against a great football team, there are certain things that, when I was recruited when I was playing other high school football, you know, the last time I was really on the field, it wasn't like this,' and it's a very different game."
Did this approach fly with Florida fans? Not all of them, if any at all. Plenty expressed their frustrations on social media, and it would have been hard to blame fans for turning the game off by halftime.
But if next year's roster, which is in line for some natural turnover to the lesser experienced, "scout team" players as Mullen referred to them as, comes out with a pep in its step in 2021 thanks to this experience, it will be hard to fault Mullen and his staff for this approach.
The Gators were dealt a bad hand in the Cotton Bowl, with players dropping like flies in regards to availability before the team even landed in Texas. It's reasonable to have expected better, as Mullen has preached the "next man up" mentality at Florida since he arrived.
But this approach was sensical when you consider the moving parts surrounding the game before kickoff.
All one could really hope for is that it pays off in the long-term. If it doesn't, Mullen will find himself bathed in more hot water.
