Florida coach Dan Mullen assumed responsibility Monday for his team’s slew of penalties and lack of preparedness while fans fumed the previous 36 hours about the Gators’ sloppy, season-altering loss at Kentucky.
The Gators committed 15 penalties, including eight false starts. Three occurred during the final two drives and inside Kentucky’s 20-yard line, causing Florida to manage just three points during a 20-13 loss effectively ending the SEC East title defense by the Gators (3-2, 1-2 SEC).
“That’s on me. The penalties are on me,” Mullen said. “It’s my responsibility to make sure the discipline this team plays with and executes at a high level.”
Mullen’s show of accountability was shift in attitude from Saturday night when he blamed the penalties on “a lack of mental toughness” and said he would speak to longtime assistant coach John Hevesy about the struggles of his offensive line.
As No. 20 Florida (3-2, 1-2 SEC) prepares to host hapless Vanderbilt (2-3, 0-1), Mullen also defended three decisions at Kentucky causing consternation within Gator Nation: not switching to a silent snap count to better manage crowd noise; limiting game-breaking backup QB Anthony Richardson to six snaps; and failing to use timeouts and push for points to end the first half.
To mitigate the impact of a sellout crowd at Kroger Field, Florida quarterback Emory Jones relied on an audible clap to signal the start of play, but it still could be heard consistently amid the din caused by 61,632 fans. This led to continued issues with the Gators’ offensive operation.
“It’s something we use and most teams around the country use,” Mullen said. “It’s something we’re looking at to make sure we’re communicating the right way.”
During a 31-29 win Sept. 18 visit to the Swamp, top-ranked Alabama switched from a clap to silent count after some early penalties.
Mullen said a mid-game shift is “much easier said than done.”
“There’s a lot that goes into what we practice and how we do things,” he said. “But we’re going to continue to look at each one of the different scenarios and everything that happens and we’ll go improve on it and coach it up and get it fixed.”
Richardson’s lack of action after his return from a two-game absence is another consideration for Mullen to weigh. The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Richardson brings a big-play ability to an offense that generated one play longer than 20 yards at Kentucky, a 22-yard completion to Xzavier Henderson.
Richardson played eight entire series during wins against FAU and USF, generating touchdown runs of 80 and 73 yards and scoring passes of 75 and 41 yards. The redshirt freshman from Gainesville was hit in the head to end a 7-yard second-quarter run, leading officials to review the play before ruling it was not targeting.
Richardson played just two more snaps, losing a yard on a run and hitting the ground with a pass well shy of receiver Justin Shorter. An increased workload to ignite the offense and offer a change of pace to Jones is yet to be determined.
“We’ll look at it,” Mullen said. “Depends on our game plan week to week and how practice goes.”
Mullen’s astute game plans and play-calling have earned praise during much of his four seasons at Florida. At Kentucky, the Gators’ lack of aggressiveness to close the first half, leading 10-7, surprised onlookers.
Following a sack by Florida’s Zachary Carter with 2:42 left in the half, the Gators did not call one of three timeouts remaining. With the ball on its 13 with 1:56 remaining in the half, the Gators ran four plays to reach the 31 and used no timeouts, letting time expire.
“You’re looking in that situation,” Mullen explained. “By the time we get the ball into range, up to about the 30, there’s about under 30 seconds left in the half. At that point we’d been playing pretty good defensively. At that point we said, ‘Hey, we’re in a position right now, we can take it in.’ Rather than take a risk throwing the ball down the field.”
Mullen’s logic was lost on ESPN color analyst Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback.
“I’m shocked,” Orlovsky said during the telecast. “This is a big-time, close ball game. You’re risking leaving points on the field.”
In the end, Kentucky fans flooded the field following the Wildcats’ first home win against the Gators since 1986. On Monday, the SEC fined the school $250,000.
