Dan Mullen: Florida was ‘maybe a little tired’ during win over Vanderbilt
By Jake Rill
Published:
Florida was trailing by eight points at the half against Vanderbilt, but the Gators rallied back to win, 37-27, on Saturday.
Entering the game, Florida was coming off three straight SEC wins against Tennessee, Mississippi State and LSU. Mullen said the previous wins were “exhausting, draining for everybody on the team,” and that the Gators were “maybe a little tired from those games … not physically, just emotionally and mentally” while playing the Commodores.
“We’ve got to get rested,” Mullen said during his postgame press conference. “And then build on our mental toughness for those next five [games].”
During the second quarter, there was a near altercation between Mullen, the Florida sideline and Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason after a targeting hit by a Gators player. The benches cleared and the two coaches had to be held back.
However, Mullen and Mason were fine by the end of the game as they shared a postgame hug.
“We’re not going to get into that publicly at all,” Mullen told the media. “It’s all great, Derek’s a really close friend of mine. We’ve got to make sure our sideline, we’re cleaner in that situation, and I’m sure he probably thinks the same thing. There’s nothing carrying over from that.”
Florida coach Dan Mullen not talking about what happened in the bear brawl in 2nd quarter, calls #Vandy coach Derek Mason a close friend: pic.twitter.com/awyw38FL9Y
— Teresa Walker ? (@TeresaMWalker) October 13, 2018
After pulling out a close win, the Gators have a week off to prepare for their matchup against Georgia on Oct. 27.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
