Dan Mullen did a lot to bring the Mississippi State football program to new heights, and now he’s doing the same at Florida.

Specifically, ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit is impressed with how Mullen is making Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium a hostile place to play again.

“Dan Mullen is getting ‘The Swamp’ back to being an intimidating environment, and this past weekend was a good reminder,” Herbstreit said on a recent episode of The College Football Podcast with Herbie & Pollack. “I think I said when I had to make the pick. If this game was at Jordan-Hare Stadium, I’m picking Auburn. If this game is at a neutral site, I’m picking Auburn. If it’s at The Swamp, I’m picking Florida. And honestly, I think home-field advantage and their defense had everything to do with why (the Gators) were able to get out of there with a win.”

Behind their home crowd, Florida held Auburn to a season-low 13 points and just 296 total yards, which were the Tigers’ ninth-fewest in a game under coach Gus Malzahn.

Auburn freshman quarterback Bo Nix was pretty sensational in his first five games, which included a trip to College Station to face a ranked Texas A&M squad. But the Gators made him look like a first-year starter Saturday, holding him to a 40.7 completion percentage and 145 passing yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

Coming into the game, Nix only had two picks in his first five games combined. Certainly, the Gators defense played tremendously, but the 90,000-plus at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium earned some credit as well.