Florida coach Dan Mullen said his team could have chosen not to play the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Wednesday night, based on player availability, but chose it anyway because the players wanted to compete.
After a 55-20 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, Mullen said that his exhausted squad would have allowed the No. 7 Gators to skip the game.
“With the number of people who wanted the game, we were actually below the numbers,” said Mullen. “We had numbers not to play the game.
Mullen added: “I give credit to our boys. … Our boys wanted to go to play in that game and they wanted to have that experience and they wanted to be on stage.”
On Tuesday, Mullen estimated that there would be 60 fellows available. This season, the SEC established a minimum limit of 53 scholarship players to participate in the game, but teams could choose to play even if they did not reach that number. There were also minimums in three key positions: defenders (one), attackers (four) and attackers (seven).
Mullen did not specify whether the Gators were below the minimum in a specific position.
“I kind of saw – I don’t know, maybe that’s wrong – that it wasn’t the 2020 football team you saw,” said Mullen of the Gators. “There were 25 guys missing out on the 2020 football team tonight. That was kind of a kick-off for us in the future, an opportunity for young people to play.”
Mullen added: “The last game that the 2020 team played was 11 days ago [in the SEC championship]. “
Among the absent Gators, there were several beginners. Its first three recipients – Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland – were eliminated, as was Kyle Pitts. Grimes, Pitts and Toney opted out of the game while preparing for the NFL draft, and Copeland was out because his test was positive for COVID-19. The Gators also lacked four defensive players.
Lost pass catchers had a significant impact on quarterback Kyle Trask, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He launched three interceptions, the best of the season, and did not touchdown after coming into play with 43 credits. Its completion percentage (57.1%) was also a low season. Second-year quarterback Emory Jones also saw significant playing time in the game, trying 16 passes and running 10 times for 60 yards and a score.
Oklahoma dominated Florida, finishing with 684 yards, including 435 runs. Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said they decided to “be a team on a mission” and “we wanted to make a statement about the way we play”.
Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey said, “We saw the [Gators’] opt-out. We don’t really care who was choosing to leave and who would stay for this game. We were ready to play and go out there and play them anyway, no matter who it was. We are happy that they showed up and gave us a chance to play. “
The Sooners also said they were aware of the comments that Florida linebacker James Houston made last week, referring to Oklahoma as “a good showdown” but “not on our level”. Oklahoma freshman receiver Marvin Mims said, “It definitely fueled the fire a little bit,” and Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler tweeted after the game, “It was a good match.”
“I would be lying if I said we didn’t see what our opponent said,” said Rattler later. “We went there and just did our job, we performed, we focused on what we had to do as a group and we came out on top.”