Dan Mullen shares how Florida plans to stay sharp, whether he thinks style points matter
By Keith Farner
Published:
Coming off a win over Arkansas that avoided a let down following the huge win over Georgia, Florida now faces a road game at Vanderbilt in front of less than 1,000 fans. Coach Dan Mullen on Monday at a press conference discussed how the Gators plan to stay sharp.
“Not only does our focus have to be on Vandy, in preparation within the scheme and game plan and everything we’re doing with Vandy but we can’t also lose focus on ourselves and how we’re getting better in different ways,” Mullen said.
The big plays given up against Arkansas is one area to start, Mullen said. Offensive efficiencies and seeing how opponents are playing against the Gators. Arkansas, for example, played a lot of dime defense and dropped a lot of players into coverage. Creating depth and having the “next man up mentality” is also important.
“There’s a lot of little things that we do and we do have to focus on ourselves as well as making sure we are ready for the game against Vanderbilt in every aspect of the scheme, and that’s how you get better,” Mullen said.
Last week it was coming off an emotional win, “let’s make sure we continue that motivation, we haven’t arrived yet.”
Mullen was also asked about style points being a factor for teams to be included in the fourth spot in the College Football Playoff. He initially deflected the question to Athletics Director Scott Stricklin. Mullen said he’s not into that.
“I’m into how do we are we making our team better,” Mullen said. “I certainly don’t want to be somebody we’re up five touchdowns and we’re in a two-minute situation trying to go up six touchdowns, or I’m faking a punt up four scores. We scored to go up 28 in the fourth quarter and we’re going to go for two, instead of one. That’s not who I am as a coach. … That’s not what I think the game of football is about, I think it devalues some of the game.”
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
