What Dan Mullen said after Florida's blowout loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl
The Florida Gators were short-handed on Wednesday night in the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma, but still, not many expected what happened on the field.
The Sooners snagged 3 interceptions against Heisman finalist Kyle Trask in the first quarter, jumping out to a 17-0 lead. They’d never look back, dominating from start to finish in the 55-20 victory.
After the game, coach Dan Mullen was obviously disappointed. But, he did have some positive things to say in his postgame press conference.
Here are some of the things he said after the game:
On the opt-outs and roster shortages:
Mullen after #Gators 55-20 loss in Cotton Bowl: "That wasn't the 2020 football team you saw tonight. We had 25 guys missing. That was kind of a kickstart for the future. … The last game the 2020 team played was 11 days ago."
— G. Allan Taylor (@GAllanTaylor) December 31, 2020
On getting younger guys some work:
#Gators coach Dan Mullen after 55-20 shellacking vs. Oklahoma: "I think the future's really bright. We had opportunities for a lot of guys to go play and get experience. … A lot of the guys who were out there playing tonight were on the scout team most of the year."
— G. Allan Taylor (@GAllanTaylor) December 31, 2020
On being short-handed due to opt-outs and COVID-19 protocols:
Mullen says they had the numbers to not have to play the game….
— Matt Baker (@MBakerTBTimes) December 31, 2020
Mullen adds that Florida was under the minimum threshold of scholarship players required, but enough guys "wanted to go play in that game." https://t.co/5ZvBjx0ULi
— G. Allan Taylor (@GAllanTaylor) December 31, 2020
Mullen spinning what happened tonight by saying a lot of the guys were on scout team all year, young players, guys out.
"To be honest with you, give our guys credit, we were under numbers to play. A lot of bowl games canceled."
— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) December 31, 2020
On QB Kyle Trask’s future:
Dan Mullen says Kyle Trask is going to be an NFL Draft pick.
My Trask for PHD campaign seems to be failing.
— Nick de la Torre (@delatorre) December 31, 2020
On young defensive players:
'We have a very young defense that I'm excited about,' Dan Mullen on those defenders who played in the Cotton Bowl.
— Edgar Thompson (@osgators) December 31, 2020
On the current bowl game system:
https://twitter.com/onlygators/status/1344509333481156608
On evaluating the coaching staff:
https://twitter.com/onlygators/status/1344509999616307203
It’s going to be an important offseason in Gainesville. The Gators need to regain some momentum after finishing 8-4 with a 3-game losing streak.