Trust The Process: Dan Mullen

The nation’s longest current win streak over any team in the NCAA came to an end this weekend in Gainesville.

The Florida Gators fell to the Kentucky Wildcats Saturday night, snapping a 31-year win streak for the Gators over the Wildcats.

Cats. Win.

Kentucky is coming home to Lexington with a 27-16 win over FLORIDA. #WeAreUK #GetUp pic.twitter.com/4ZjmXh8bHA

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 9, 2018

Leading Up to the Game

After blowing out Charleston Southern (56-3) during week 1, the Gators felt very confident heading into week 2 of the season.

Gators’ Defensive Back Chancey Gardner- Johnson even told Gator fans that the streak would be extended to 32.

"It's 31, right? It'll be 32 on Saturday." — Gators DB Chauncey Gardner-Johnson on streak against Kentucky

— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) September 3, 2018

During the Game

The Gators made it through the opening weekend without an injury.

But on the first defensive series of the game, the Gators lost defensive back Marco Wilson for the season to a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).

However, things looked good for the Gators as they headed into the locker room at halftime up 10-7.

Two clutch takeaways keep us in front, and put some life into The Swamp 😏#GoGators #RelentlessEffort pic.twitter.com/HYmww2iunc

— Florida Gators Football (@GatorsFB) September 9, 2018

Things for the Gators went downhill from there, including a missed field goal that caused controversy around The Swamp. The Gators’ defense, unfortunately, could not stop the run allowing the Cats to run for over 300 yards.

In the end, the Cats would come back to beat the Gators 27-16 including a fumble recovery for a touchdown on the last play of the game.

Dan Mullen

“Everyone in the world has problems, successful people find solutions,” Mullen said in an interview on Monday.

Mullen is the first coach since Galen Hall (1986) to lose to Kentucky. With the need to win very important in the Gainesville area, Mullen is set to find solutions to problems.

“We had 20 missed tackles for 168 yards.” This is something that can not happen if the Gators expect to win in the SEC.

Mullen touched on changing the program’s practice and game attitude as well. “It doesn’t happen overnight, we’re not going to go from here to here in one day,” Mullen said during his press conference.

Moving Forward

With the injury to Wilson, Mullen plans to bring Trey Dean III to fill in. “He was a 2 at the start of camp and I feel that 1s and 2s should be interchangeable,” Mullen said.

Mullen added that defensive linemen Cece Jefferson “should be back” to play in week 3.

The Gators kickoff against Colorado State this weekend in the Swamp for their third home game. The Rams are fresh off a big win against just fellow SEC member Arkansas in a thrilling 37-27 game.