Dan Mullen and the Gators lose big to South Carolina

Florida entered the game against South Carolina as 20 point favorites. Dan Mullen and the Gators exited the game as the loser by 23 points.

How it happened

First Half

Both teams trotted out a quarterback that did not start in the previous game. Emory Jones made the start for the Gators for the injured Anthony Richardson. Jason Brown, a transfer from St. Francis, made his first start for South Carolina.

The Gamecocks were dominant on offense in the first half. They scored on all five drives. They scored an extra time off of a fumble recovery scooped for a touchdown.

South Carolina went into the half up 30-10.

Second Half

The second half saw little action compared to the first. Just 17 total points were scored.

The Gators had little success moving the ball until the fourth quarter when Rick Wells was able to catch a good ball from Emory Jones in the back corner of the end zone. This gave the team its first points since eight seconds into the second quarter.

The Gamecocks closed out the game 40-17. This was the most points South Carolina had ever scored against Florida in 42 matchups.

Head coach Dan Mullen talked about the tough loss and going forward for the players.

Dan Mullen in the press conference

Like it was for the whole week of practice, head coach Dan Mullen had a press conference, but kept players and other coaches out of media availability.

Mullen mentioned how the team was not at full capability before even stepping on the field. Much of the team was sick.

With much talk around coaching changes, Mullen is keeping that to a minimum. He wants to wait to evaluate and instead focus on the season at hand.

On the topic of coaches, Dan Mullen takes responsibility on behalf of the coaches for turning the season around.

The next game for the Gators will be against Samford in Gainesville. The Gators sit at 4-5 now and are under .500 for the first time since 2017.