Anyone who knows Dan Mullen understands he can be emotional. Saturday night was no different after Florida’s 13-6 win over Mississippi State in Starkville.

His return to the place where he spent nine seasons was the dominant storyline throughout the week as the Gators prepared to travel to Starkville. While he came away with the win, the journey back clearly had an impact on Mullen. He spent extra time after the game saying hello to his former players.

“I recruited those guys, coached and developed them,” Mullen said. “There’s guys on that team that had every scholarship in America and guys that we took chances on. I love those guys and feel for them.”

Mullen didn’t let his feelings for his former players get in his way during the game as he tried to find a way to break the Gators out of a low-scoring stalemate. It finally happened early in the third quarter when the Gators successfully completed a double pass for a touchdown to take a 10-6 lead.

“We’d been throwing some quick screens, thought they’d jump on the quick screen and they did and it was open,” Mullen said.

The Gators scored at least 40 points in three of their first four games, so the defensive back-and-forth came as a bit of surprise.

“We came in here and found a different way to win a different style of game,” Mullen said. “Last week we won by the big play. This week we won by grinding it out.”

The Gators added on a field goal and then held off a last-minute drive from the Bulldogs to improve to 4-1 on the season. Florida faces an even tougher test next week when they host No. 5 LSU.