Gators HC Dan Mullen 'Ho-Hum' On 38-17 Victory Over Vanderbilt
The No. 6 Florida Gators defeated the winless Vanderbilt Commodores by a score of 38-17, and while the team advances to 6-1 on the season with just three games remaining prior to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta, there could be some concern coming out of a contest that ended 17-10 in the Gators' favor by halftime.
RELATED: Gators Break School Record, Take Down Vanderbilt Commodores 38-17
Entering the contest, Florida was projected as a 30+ point favorite over the Commodores, but to only win by 21 at the end of the day, scoring the majority of its points in the second half, the team may have a lot to think about. Gators head coach Dan Mullen wasn't too bullish on the team's victory on Saturday, either.
"Kind of a good, then bad, good, then bad. It wasn't poor attitude, it wasn't anything. I think it was kind of just a ho-hum performance for us if that's the best way to put it, which we can't do if we want to be a great team. We can't do that," Mullen said following the game on Saturday.
Florida began Saturday's contest incredibly slow, by anyone's standards, allowing the Vanderbilt offense to effortlessly move down the field and score on its first two drives, a touchdown and a field goal, respectively. It wasn't until later would the Gators defense finally buckle down, but even then, there was plenty to be concerned about.
Vanderbilt freshman quarterback Ken Seals completed 22 out of 34 of his passes for 319 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on the day. It was easily the freshman's best performance of the season, and part of what gave Vanderbilt any sort of hope during the first half of the contest. The Gators defense simply came out flat, and it showed.
"I don't know that we had our best week of practice this week," Mullen would concede following the victory.
"Not attitude-wise, I just kind of thought we were a little bit blah a couple of the days, two of the days, a couple days of the practice, not as sharp, not as crisp with everything we were doing. That was kind of top to bottom. I think at times we came out here and played. It was kind of we had a good day and then a bad day, a good day and then a bad day of practice this week, and it kind of looked that way offensively and defensively. A good drive, a bad drive, a good drive, a bad drive."
That would be the case for the Gators offensively, too. While the team did finish with 586 total yards on Saturday, it did take them a while to get into a rhythm following its first drive that led to a Kadarius Toney touchdown. In the three drives following Florida's first drive of the game, the Gators would punt twice and forced to kick a field goal.
At the end of the day, the Gators did score 38 points, winning the contest by 21. However, due to the high standards the team has given itself over the first six games of the season, a close score in the first half against a winless team does raise an eyebrow.
Next week, Florida will take on the Kentucky Wildcats, a team that is currently 3-5 on the year. With a home game, instead of a bizarre atmosphere in Nashville (Tenn.), featuring just over 1,000 fans, Florida will look to regain its momentum, showcasing why they're one of the best teams in the nation.
