Dan Mullen thanks Florida fans; talks QBs, defense and more after Gators upset No. 7 Auburn
Dan Mullen has his Florida squad 6-0 and riding a 10-game winning streak. Win No. 10 might be the best one yet. The Gators entered Saturday’s showdown ranked No. 10 and home underdogs to No. 7 Auburn.
Mullen called on fans to show up early and make sure Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was truly “The Swamp” from kickoff to 0:00. The fans delivered as home UF home crowd was rocking from Auburn’s first possession to its last.
After the game, Mullen made sure to thank the Florida fans in his postgame press conference. He also talked about his two quarterbacks, a big game by the Gators defense, injuries to Kyle Trask and Dameon Pierce and more. Here are the highlights of what Mullen told reporters on hand after the game:
“Just a regular day at the Swamp,” jokes Dan Mullen.
— Jacquie Franciulli (@JacquieFran_) October 5, 2019
#Gators coach Dan Mullen: “I bet not many coming into the game expected us to outrush Auburn.”
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall_) October 5, 2019
Dan Mullen: 'I'll tell you what was awesome: the fans.'
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 5, 2019
“This is what The Swamp used to be, this is what The Swamp is, and this is what we expect it to be” – Mullen on the crowd creating energy and causing penalties by Auburn #Gators
— Zach Goodall (@zach_goodall) October 5, 2019
Q: How big a win is this for the trajectory of the program?
Mullen: "It's a big win tonight. It won't mean a whole lot tomorrow morning. We're building. I know what the standard is."
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) October 5, 2019
Dan Mullen: 'We have a lot of trust in Emory. He came in, did a great job.'
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 5, 2019
Mullen said #Gators have noticeably “really improved on their tackling since the beginning of the season.”
— Graham Hall (@GrahamHall_) October 5, 2019
Mullen: "Everyone coming into the game said Auburn's going to dominate both lines of scrimmages. Their great players made some great plays but it's hard to look at the stat line and say they dominated the line of scrimmage."
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) October 5, 2019
Dan Mullen on Kyle Trask returning to the game: 'He’s never wavered since I’ve been here. It’s pretty amazing.'
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 5, 2019
“I get into it! I love the energy! I love the crowd! When you hear the deafening noise in the swamp. That gets you juiced!” Mullen says #Gators
— Cierra Clark (@CierraClark_) October 5, 2019
Mullen jokes that Kyle Trask wasn't going to let this opportunity slip away. "He might have seen Emory whipping it around on a TV back there."
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) October 5, 2019
Dan Mullen on Dameon Pierce, who left game after taking a shot to the helmet: 'He's a little goofy anyway. I just talked to him in the locker room he seems like he always does.' Said he'll have update Monday.
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) October 5, 2019
San Mullen says it’s a MCL sprain for Kyle Trask. He doesn’t anticipate it being an issue next week at LSU.
— Nick de la Torre (@NickdelaTorreGC) October 5, 2019
Best crowd in 10 years. Go Gators!!
It was never an upset. Look at the scores and opponents each team had leading up to the game. At best it was an even chance …. and it was at home…..and it was the East against the West (and and the East had a clearly better record against the West last year). See how that works, as opposed to the media trying to convince us they know better.
There certainly wasn’t a lot of rational thought from the media leading up to this game. These 2 teams were as evenly matched as any out there …I couldn’t understand the narrative being pushed that Auburn was so much more talented and more explosive. It was complete nonsense. One of the SDS writers said Nix was going to throw for 300+ yesterday ….WTF???
I said all week that it was 2 evenly matched teams and the game would be decided by the raucous crowd and coaching …and picked UF 24-19. And that was pretty close to how it worked out.
Thanks for highlighting how the idiot sports media creates baseless story lines because ratings and the truth is not always great drama. Why would anyone ever believe a sportswriter about anything?
A lower-ranked home underdog winning is considered an upset. The AP voters had Auburn higher entering the game. More money was bet in Las Vegas on Auburn as the favorite.