Florida Gators fans who like to gamble probably still are looking at their betting sheets from Saturday’s college football games, and shaking their heads.
Many of them might have circled Florida’s 35- or 36-point spread — depending on the betting service — as a lock for the Gators to easily cover against their Football Championship Subdivision foe Samford.
Many of those same Gators fans learned a few hard lessons Saturday. First, you should never, ever, never bet with your heart. Second, things can’t possibly be going well in Gainesville if the head coach has to publicly say, over and over again, that the victory was a “good win.”
On Saturday, Mullen said it during the TV broadcast after the 70-52 victory over Samford.
I thought, “He can’t possibly be serious.”
It was embarrassing. Florida had to come back from trailing at halftime. Obviously fired defensive coordinator Todd Grantham wasn’t the problem.
The Gators were worse after Grantham’s firing.
Then Mullen said it more, and with emphasis, in the postgame news conference. Mullen even went so far as to question the media’s sabotaging of the “good win” with words like “disappointing.”
“I think calling a win a disappointment is disrespectful to the game and to their players,” Mullen said. “We’re going to enjoy the win because it’s hard to win in the game of football.”
Well, sure, it’s hard to win in football and upsets do happen, but this particular victory was not your everyday FBS vs. FCS blowout. Do you think if the Gators had lost to Samford and Mullen was sitting in Scott Stricklin’s office begging for his job that he would be telling the Florida athletics director, “But Scott, this is a good loss. Samford is a good team. Their team played great. We always get an FCS team’s best shot.”
I wonder what Stricklin was thinking when the Bulldogs and the Gators sat deadlocked in the Swamp at 42-42 in the third period.
Had the Gators not forced a field goal after a goal-line stand later in the quarter, it could have even been 56-56. But, finally, the defense stopped the vaunted offensive attack of that team from ... oh, wait, is it Alabama or Mississippi? It’s somewhere over to the left of Tallahassee.
Oh yes, the team from Birmingham, Alabama. That’s actually kind of funny. Since Samford hung 52 on the Gators and Alabama only won at the Swamp earlier this season 31-29, does that mean Samford is the best college team in Alabama?
As controversial former Oakland Raiders coach, owner and general manager Al Davis, who died in 2011, used to say, “Just win, baby.”
The Gators’ motto is a little different, “You better win, baby.”
Unfortunately for the Gators, that will be quite difficult with two games remaining against Missouri and FSU.
Mizzou is coming off a 31-28 victory over the same South Carolina team that pummeled Florida 40-17 two weeks ago. Oddsmakers are giving the Gators the nod as an eight-point road favorite, which is somewhat baffling. The Tigers, who like the Gators also are 5-5, have had some tough losses this season.
A victory over Florida, however, would certainly classify as a “good win.” It could even classify as a “goodbye” for Mullen.
What remains, however, could be the biggest game of Mullen’s head coaching career. With FSU coming to town on Thanksgiving weekend, a loss to those same Seminoles, who started the season 0-4, including a loss to FCS Jacksonville State, would certainly be a bad loss.
If that happens, Mullen might even fire himself before Stricklin gets the chance.
”No one’s going to be harder on me than me,” Mullen said Saturday. “There’s nobody more disappointed when we don’t live up to the Gator Standard and expectations than me. The criticism is the criticism. And you know what? My self-criticism is probably a lot worse.”
Well, maybe, but the Gator Nation criticism is getting pretty harsh. Saturday, I hope, was not exactly living up to the “Gator Standard,” in Mullen’s eyes.
The problem for Mullen is that you can’t fire the players, so the coach is next in line. Mullen gets $6 million a year to win football games. At this rate, he’s getting paid more than $1 million per victory. That’s a big number for a .500 team.
The Gators were celebrating wildly in the locker room after defeating Samford. Mullen even tried his best Ed Ogeron dance moves.
Let’s hope that’s the only thing he’s mimicking when it comes to Coach O.
But giving up 52 to Samford should not be celebrated, and I’m sure Mullen let his defense know the next time they were all together. Mullen might be known as the coach who gets the most out of his quarterback, but defense wins championships, so we’ve all been told.
For the Gators, the defense needed the offense for a “good win” over Samford.
For Gators gamblers, I would say a good win would be to play the over in both of the remaining two games. Playing the spread would be more like a drunk-thrown dart into the side of a barroom wall. It’s anyone’s guess how these next two games turn out.
If the Gators lose both, that dart will likely hit Mullen square in the forehead. The only thing that might save Mullen’s job is the competition for coaches. Already, USC, LSU, Texas Tech and TCU are hunting new head coaches. It might be best just to let Mullen ride this out.
I don’t have anything against Mullen. I hope he stays, regardless of the outcome against Missouri and FSU. Starting over means three more years in the making.
But he better recruit, he better find a defensive coordinator who can put some fight back in these Gators, and he better win.
Heck, look at the bright side of the future. Texas could be on the new SEC schedule. That’s a “good win,” right?
