Mullen Relishes in Florida Gators 'Big-Time' Victory Over Georgia

The eighth-ranked Florida Gators control their own destiny.

Dan Mullen's UF squad topped the arch-rival No. 5 Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday evening, the first time during his tenure as Florida's head coach. In the end, Mullen celebrated with his team, coaches and fans following what would turn out to be a sizable 44-28 victory over Kirby Smart's Bulldogs.

Now, Florida heads into the second half of its season with full control of the SEC East, and a shot at taking on the SEC West champions in the SEC Championship game on Dec. 17. The victory over Georgia is now Mullen's shining moment as Florida's head coach since he accepted the position in 2018.

“It feels great, obviously, winning this big-time game," Mullen said in his post-game press conference. "It’s put us in a good and decent position. It’s put us in position to get ready to go beat Arkansas. We have Arkansas in seven days. That’s what it’s put us in position to do.

"We’re at the midpoint of the season, we’re in first place in the East. Big win. I’m really proud of how our guys played and responded against one of the top defense’s and one of the top overall teams in the country.”

While it is already time for Mullen and his squad to think about Arkansas next Saturday, the Florida head coach did take the time to celebrate the victory with fans following the game, jumping into the stands and giving high fives to the Florida faithful.

"I guess with all those people there, it seemed like there were a lot of students and they were juiced and they were trying to get me to jump into the stands right there. You have to enjoy it," said Mullen.

There's plenty of reason to celebrate. Florida's victory over Georgia was not only a first for Mullen as a head coach, but also the first time the Gators defeated the Bulldogs since 2016. The team's 38 first-half points were also the most points ever scored in the first half by Florida in the contest since its inception

Gators quarterback Kyle Trask completed 30 out of 43 of his passes for a Florida-Georgia-record 474 yards by a Gators quarterback, four touchdowns and one interception on the day. Trask's 474 yards was also the most yards he's thrown for as a Florida quarterback and the most yards ever thrown in a regular-season game by a Florida quarterback.

"I may be 48 years old but I am still really young on the inside, so I got to enjoy some of that stuff. Some of our players were up there and I decided to jump in there with them."

Now is the time to celebrate, but Mullen understands that there's plenty for the team to accomplish in the next five games to get to where they want to go.

“It’s, you know, we got to have some fun and enjoy this, too," said Mullen. "I know it’s been a very tough, difficult year for everybody in every aspect of things. But when great things happen to you, like this win for us tonight, we still got to be able to put a smile on our face and enjoy it.

"I’m just so happy for our guys. I’m proud of our guys. I told them before the game I was really excited to watch them play tonight because they’ve worked their tail off to be in this situation - and I enjoyed them play and I enjoyed celebrating. It’s a great celebration. I’m going to celebrate tonight, too, and then we’ll come in early tomorrow morning and get on to Arkansas.”

But, where do the Gators go from here? For now, they'll prepare to take on Arkansas, a team led by former Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks who has become a bright spot for the Razorbacks this season. The victory over Georgia puts Florida at 4-1 at the midway point, that much closer to Atlanta.

"We’re at, we got to prepare for Arkansas next week at home and that’s really where we are at. I don’t know if this will have an effect on next year’s game, like last year’s didn’t affect this year's, so I mean.. I think everybody likes to look at that. I think it puts us in first place in the midway point of the East."