Dan Mullen offers controversial take on close Samford victory
Florida added a win to their resume on Saturday against Samford, and that is how head coach Dan Mullen would like to remember the outing.
“Calling a win disappointing is disrespectful to the game,” Mullen said after the game, per Zach Abolverdi.
The Gators beat the Bulldogs 70-52 in Gainesville, and Samford’s scoring total was the most points ever posted by an FCS team against an SEC opponent. The previous record was 51. Additionally, the Gators allowed a school-record 42 points in the first half.
Florida gave up 530 yards of total offense, including 400 passing yards to Samford quarterback Liam Welch.
In addition to Welch, wideout Montrell Washington was the offensive star for Samford. He had three scores: a 1-yard touchdown run, a 23-yard touchdown catch and a 98-yard kickoff returned for a touchdown. He finished with 10 receptions for 124 yards.
The performance came less than a week after Florida fired former defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.
Mullen’s future remains in question
Mullen’s job remains a hot topic as Florida has lost eight of their last 10 games against Power Five opponents, and they are 5-5 on the season. His buyout is $12 million.
Like former Florida head coach Will Muschamp, Mullen went 11-2 in his second year at the helm in Gainesville. Mullen was 8-4 in 2020 in his third year, while Muschamp was 4-8 in his third year. Muschamp was kept on board following the 4-8 season, but he was fired the next year after going 6-5.
Florida needs one more win to become bowl eligible, and they have games against Missouri and Florida State remaining. Florida has beaten Missouri the last two times the teams have met. The Gators have topped the Seminoles in their last two meetings as well, but Florida State won five-straight games from 2013-2017.
Mullen took exception to team’s heart earlier in the week
After a 40-17 loss to South Carolina last weekend, Mullen was supportive of his team’s ability to fight.
“Yeah, that’s a tough one,” Mullen told reporters during his postgame press conference. “I know everybody’s disappointed. I thought our guys has a great attitude this week and worked – and the desire of our guys – the attitude that they bring. We just gotta create some positive momentum for the guys on the team. For those guys – and we as coaches – gotta improve and help them get better.
“I certainly don’t think we gave up,” he added. “I give our guys credit. They battled. They faced a lot of adversity and then continued to battle. We faced all kinds of adversity this week and those guys continued to battle.”