Florida Head Coach Dan Mullen made headlines this week for comments he made after his team lost to Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl. Lincoln Riley, coach of the Sooners, was asked about Mullen’s comments on Friday.
“You know, each with their own,” said Riley. “I think it’s very easy to say after the fact and after what happened. But I have feelings about it, but I just don’t know what I really have to gain from sharing it, honestly. I don’t think I have much to gain.
“We will try to value the opportunities that we have here, the opportunities that we have to play. And we’ve been in situations this year and in previous years when we didn’t have all of our bullets, either, and just everyone has to make a decision on how to deal with that in their programs. “
The Sooners jumped straight out of the gates over the Gators, scoring in their first offensive possession and then scoring Kyle Trask for a score just a few moves after that. So, Oklahoma built a 17-3 lead after a quarter. Although Florida fought back after that, it was a pretty smooth road to Oklahoma.
But although many did not want to hear the excuse, Mullen continued to point out how many players were not available for Florida to use. Among the players who chose not to play the bowl was the star tight end Kyle Pitts. The Gators also lacked a number of wide receivers, including Jacob Copeland, who tested positive for COVID-19, which led to Mullen’s controversial comments.
“I kind of saw – I don’t know, maybe that’s wrong – that it wasn’t the 2020 football team that you saw,” said Mullen of the Gators, who finished 8-4 after losing their final three games. “There were 25 guys missing the 2020 football team tonight. This was a kind of kick-off for us for the future, an opportunity for young people to play. “
Mullen proceeded to make an interesting comparison.
“The last game that the 2020 team played was 11 days ago [the SEC championship]. “
Mullen probably pointed this out because of the success his team had in the SEC Championship game. The Gators lost from Alabama by 18 at the break and it looked like it was over. But the Gators would be back running with two touchdowns in the third quarter, reducing the lead to just four points in the fourth quarter. They would lose by only six points.
Florida, like all college football teams, struggled with COVID’s problems this year, but Mullen pointed out after the game that he had fewer players than usual. Mullen went on to say that the Gators could have been left out of the game.
Get the fastest scores, stats, news, LIVE videos and more. CLICK HERE to download the CBS Sports Mobile App and get the latest news from your team today.
“With the number of people who wanted the game, we were actually below the numbers,” said Mullen. “We had the numbers not to play the game.”
Sam Marsdale of 247Sports contributed to this report