Mullen Describes Florida Gators Halftime Brawl with Missouri Tigers
The most respected, unwritten rule in football: Don't touch my quarterback.
Missouri touched Florida's quarterback, Kyle Trask, on Saturday night on what appeared to be a late hit as the clock expired in the first half. Shortly after uncorking a Hail Mary pass down the field, Tigers' defensive lineman Trajan Jeffcoat took a shot at Trask's upper-body and head area, and hell broke loose.
The Gators and Tigers' benches cleared and the two teams and coaching staffs met in the middle of the field, with voices raised, tempers flaring, and punches thrown. All while a flag for a late hit was never thrown.
"I got told [Missouri] hit [Trask] late," head coach Dan Mullen described the event. "And you know what? Our guys told them don’t hit the quarterback. I think our guys started to do that."
Not just one or two guys, though. And not just Trask's burly offensive line. Rather, it was UF defensive lineman Zachary Carter and linebacker Antwaun Powell who got into the thick of the action and ended up being ejected from the game, along with Missouri edge rusher Tre Williams.
Each member of both teams received unsportsmanlike conduct penalties along with the ejections. Mullen doesn't anticipate the SEC turning to punishments that could affect Florida's roster against Georgia this upcoming week as there were no second-half unsportmanlike conduct penalties.
“My understanding is the intent with two guys on our team and one guy on their team in the first half is they miss the rest of this game," Mullen shared. "My understanding from the officials is that was the end of it."
Mullen charged into the fight as well and was clearly enraged when cameras zoomed in on his actions, having to be restrained by members of Florida's coaching staff. After several minutes within the skirmish, Mullen and the staff were able to get Florida's players off the field - only for Mullen to wave his arms to pump the crowd up following.
Pressed on the idea that he escalated the situation, Mullen replied: “I was trying to get our players off the field to make sure we didn’t have issues and have a whole bunch of guys suspended. We’re already a paper-thin outfit right now.”
Florida had 15 players unavailable on Saturday night for undisclosed reasons, after a two-week bye after a COVID-19 outbreak within the program.
Time will tell if Mullen is right. The SEC could very well hand out discipline regardless of the unsportsmanlike penalties given the severity of the situation and the scale of the brawl, along with Mullen for his involvement, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
"I’ll tell you this: I give our coaches and our players a lot of credit," said Mullen. "And I give [Missouri head] coach [Eliah] Drinkwitz and the Missouri staff and their players a lot of credit because how... tense that first half ended just shows the class of both teams being able to come out the second half and just play football."
