Transcript: Mullen Is Jubilant But Cautious After Florida Gators Defeat Georgia Bulldogs
The No. 8 Florida Gators defeated the No 5 Georgia Bulldogs 44-28 on Saturday, assuring the Gators senior class would leave with at least one win over the Bulldogs. Gators Head Coach Dan Mullen met with local media following the game to discuss what it felt like to get the win for the first time in three years, Kyle Trask's record setting game, Kyle Pitts injury and more.
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How does it feel beating Georgia? How big is this for you and this program?
“It feels great, obviously, winning this big-time game. It’s put us in a good and decent position. It’s put us in position to get ready to go beat Arkansas. We have Arkansas in seven days. That’s what it’s put us in position to do. We have to do that seven days from now. We’re at the midpoint of the season, we’re in first place in the East. Big win. I’m really proud of how our guys played and responded against one of the top defense’s and one of the top overall teams in the country.”
I’ve got to ask. What was going through your mind about four minutes into the game down 14-0?
“One of the funny things is you’re sitting there and saying, ‘Hey, we want to start fast. It’s a big deal to us.’ Because last year, with the game, how it played out last year, you’re looking if it’s going to be that again. We wanted to try to play with a lead. And force to kind of extend the game and not let them slow the game down. Obviously, we didn’t get lined up correctly on the first play. We gave up a 75-yard touchdown play. Then they convert a pass and score again. Down 14-0. Our guys were kind of maybe a little shell-shocked coming out at that point with what was going on. We did a nice job settling down. Nobody panicked. Everyone was kind of like, ‘Whoa.’ But I think we once down and got that first offensive touchdown, I think the attitude on our sideline changed and everybody kind of remembered, ‘Hey, you know what, we can play pretty good defense, getting 11 guys running to the ball as hard as we can. We can score points.’ I think everybody all of a sudden realized we’re fine, we’re going to be OK in this game. We came back and got hot offensively and guys started making plays.”
What do you say about Kyle at this point? Another four-touchdown performance, he’s eight yards short of Tebow’s school record for passing. Really, really carried you guy?
“Yeah, I think Kyle did a really good job managing the game. I think he missed a couple of things. You look, we had some missed assignments out there on the touchdowns we gave up. Even the pick six, you had a receiver kind of go the wrong way. But, couple of decisions I think he’s got to improve on that could have cost us there in the game. But a lot of great decisions as well. I thought he did a really good job of managing the game, making the throws he needed to make. Obviously, we would like to have been a little more efficient there in the second half. Kind of slowed down a little bit in the second half. But we’re also playing with the lead and trying to manage the game how the game was going at that point. We needed to get another touchdown. We didn’t end up doing that. But, overall, he prepares really hard, studies the game a lot, puts a lot of time in. He’s an accurate guy with the ball and he’s a confident guy. And the guys believe in him. But we’re also we’re playing, you know, playing with a lead and trying to manage the game and how the game was going at that point. Obviously we kept talking, ‘We need to get another touchdown. We need to get another touchdown.’ We didn’t end up doing that, but overall Kyle he prepares really hard, studies the game a lot, puts a lot of time in. He’s an accurate guy with the ball and he’s a confident guy, and the guys believe in him. He’s not afraid, he doesn’t hone in one guy, takes what the defense gives us - he does a nice job doing that. You see that by all the different receivers that get catches.”
Long time since stranglehold on East, saw you celebrating?
“Yeah. You got to. It’s, you know, we got to have some fun and enjoy this, too. I know it’s been a very tough, difficult year for everybody in every aspect of things. But when great things happen to you, like this win for us tonight, we still got to be able to put a smile on our face and enjoy it. I’m just so happy for our guys. I’m proud of our guys. I told them before the game I was really excited to watch them play tonight because they’ve worked their tail off to be in this situation - and I enjoyed them play and I enjoyed celebrating. It’s a great celebration. I’m going to celebrate tonight, too, and then we’ll come in early tomorrow morning and get on to Arkansas.”
More possessions (eight) in the first half than entire game last year (seven)? How key for D to get off the field after rough start?
“Well, it was huge for us. I think, you know what, Todd, then all of the sudden you give that up and we get it drawn and figure out what they’re in and how they did it. We had a misalignment on the long touchdown run to start off, that’s a frustrating couple things. But I think our guys started to settle down and I think as a team we’re coming together as a team. Our guys looks and say, hey, it’s fun to play defense when you know your offense can score points and it’s fun to play offense when your defense can make stops when they need to. I think that’s how you see the team starting to come together, enjoy it and trust each other a lot.”
RB catches?
“I don’t know all the stats. But that’s a good day for them. I know everybody says whoever runs for the most yards wins, but maybe it’s whoever’s running backs get the most yards win. Those are the matchups, when you look at matchups. Kyle Trask does a great job. He’s not going to force the ball. They’re going to bracket and take away and double people. He’s going to go to who you’re not bracketing or double-covering.”
What impressed you most about the offense?
I was pleased with our efficiency. I thought we made a lot of big plays too. One thing in the second half, I think we did a good job managing the game. We really wish we would have made another play or two there in the second half to open it up. With all the injuries we had, you are going in there at times, Ethan White was still on the edge, hopefully he will be back next week as a starter. Stewart Reese went out as a starter, Jean DeLance was out for a little bit as a starter. You know you’re down three starting offensive linemen; you’re down one of the best playmakers in college football in Kyle Pitts; you’re down a lot of different guys but we did a good job managing there in the second half and finding ways to make plays
How is Kyle Pitts?
We’ll see. We’ll see. That was a big hit, so the trainers said that he would be out the rest of the game. We will check out as that goes the rest of the week.
Why did you jump in stands?
I guess with all those people there, it seemed like there were a lot of students and they were juiced and they were trying to get me to jump into the stands tight there. You have to enjoy it. I may be 48 years old but I am still really young on the inside, so I got to enjoy some of that stuff. Some of our players were up there and I decided to jump in there with them.
Changing of the guard in the SEC East?
I think last year everybody was like, ‘where are we at after the game?’ We’re at, we got to prepare for Arkansas next week at home and that’s really where we are at. I don’t know if this will have an effect on next year’s game, like last year’s didn’t affect this year's, so I mean.. I think everybody likes to look at that. I think it puts us in first place in the midway point of the East. Now we got a tough schedule ahead of us and we have to try to stay there and find a way to get to Atlanta.
Was this the hump you needed to get over?
“Uh, I don't know about that, I know, I mean, I was, really it was a big win for us. Uh, you know, anytime you have a top 10 matchup, you know, I mean, those are those are, those are big games, so. I don't know the hump, I mean, hopefully we get, if we can, if we can find a way to continue to improve we might get more top 10 matchups as the year goes on, and we'll see how that goes.”
Not having a bye week help prevent a typical slow start this week?
“Yeah, I, you know, I don't know. I, the bye week thing is to me is such, like a toss up deal, you know, that sometimes, hey, if we if we're coming off a bye week, we start slow, then other times you're coming out the game and you're banged up and you don't have guys healthy, where if we had a bye week we could have gotten them healthy. I don't know that it's a big deal, either way, you know. I'm not jumping up and down so we have to have a bye week before this game. The, uh, I do think it, though, the league, and I know it is such a big game, they, they try to keep it even that way. Either both teams have a bye or both teams don’t. And I think that's not that a, that's a fair thing to do, because both teams enter in the same situation.”
How was practice this week/focus changed trying not to get complacent after this win?
“Well, I think, you know, the biggest thing we did is we, you know, we're, if we, our guys know it's going to be a big game, and I think our guys are going to be excited to play in the game, and, uh, we just kind of left it at that. It wasn't, you know, we didn't put, put more on it than anything else, uh, we didn't, we didn't put more on this game than other games, uh, in the week of practice. Uh, because I think everybody kind of knew, hey, you know, this is a big matchup game. You know, I mean two top-10 teams, so, to be honest with you, we really, I think we kind of really downplayed it a little bit in that way of let's just take care of our business the right way. It's going to take everybody, every single person, you know. I mean, there's a lot of guys that weren't on the sideline today that had a lot to do with us winning this game and the preparation all week. There were guys in sideline that played minimal snaps that had a lot to do with us winning this game today, uh, that everybody, we talked, that's the only thing we talked about, that it was going to take all of us to to win and, and it did.”
Harder to stay in the top spot than move up ladder?
“What did we go, 10 and 11? And we're trying to go, I don't know even know if we can go...Going to 12 this year would be a big deal, right?”
That would be a very big deal.
“Is that possible even at this point? I was told there would be no math.
That's it, you're asked a bunch of journalists to do math, it's not going to end well.
That would be all of it, right? We’d finished 12-1, national champions? And then it's definitely harder to go from 11 to 12 than it is to the other ones. I'll take it. I hope we do.”
[Is it harder to stay at the top spot than to get there?]
"What did we do? Ten to 11 and we're trying to go, I don't even know."
"Going to 12 this year would be a big deal, right?"
"Is that possible even at this point? I was told there would be no math."
"That would be all of them, right? We finish 11-1, then national champion? Then it definitely is harder to go from 11 to 12 than it is the other ones. I'll take it. I hope we do."
[What's the team's ceiling?]
"Oh, I don't know you know I mean, we're playing, playing good football. I'd love to see us be able to play, with our team, the full team. You know we've been short-handed. Just about every game this year you know and like I said at times this weekend, this game we were short-handed I know George was too a bunch. ou know, but I don't know where we're in the point right now we're first place in the East at the midway point. How far can we go? I don't know. Hopefully, we can you know get back to work tomorrow and find a way to beat Arkansas this week. And if we're worried about anything but that, then we're not going to continue to enjoy the great things that we've been enjoying so far this year. You know, I mean it. You know I know our guys have played hard, every single week, I think we've improved every single week I think there's a bunch of things we can improve off of this game. You know, and that's on us as coaches to make sure that we're getting the players coached up in the right position doing what's right and up, you know, and get ready for Arkansas next weekend, that's, that's what that's what's in our control right now."
[Is Kyle Trask in the Heisman race?]
"Yeah, well, we'll see I don't know because I don't get, they don't ask me that question. I don't get a vote on that. So that's up for you guys to decide and discuss."
*inaudible because a question was asked that he didn't hear*
"... preparing him to get ready for Arkansas next week I think he's doing a heck of a job having a great year. Um, you know, and, and I think he keeps his checks and balances in there pretty well you know I will see. You guys, you guys get to figure all that stuff out. You know, my job is to make sure he's ready to go against Arkansas mentally, and you know what if he keeps playing well, I think this: if you play well, and your team plays well individual words follow. So if we continue to play well he continues to play well as a team we keep doing great things. Usually, that's when individual awards come in, you know, if we keep winning and playing well I'm sure he'll have the opportunity to get some individual awards."
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