Florida coach Dan Mullen said his team could have chosen not to play in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Wednesday night, depending on the player’s availability, but chose anyway because the players wanted to compete.
Following an explosive 55-20 loss to Oklahoma No. 6, Mullen said his exhausted list would have allowed the 7 Gators to skip the game.
“Given the number of people who came out to play, we were below the numbers,” Mullen said. “I had the numbers not to play the game.
Mullen added: “I give credit to our boys … Our young people wanted to play that game and they wanted to get that experience and they wanted to be on that stage.”
On Tuesday, Mullen estimated that he will have 60 stock players at his disposal. The SEC this season has set a minimum threshold of 53 players to participate in the game, but teams may choose to play even if they have not reached that number. There were also lows at three key positions: defenders (one), defensive linemen (four) and offensive linemen (seven).
Mullen did not specify whether the Gators were below the minimum at a certain position.
“I kind of saw – I don’t know, maybe it’s wrong – it wasn’t the 2020 football team you saw,” Mullen said of the Gators. “There were 25 guys missing from the 2020 football team tonight. It was kind of a start for us for the future, an opportunity for the young boys to play.”
Mullen added: “The last game the 2020 team played was 11 days ago [in the SEC championship]. “
Among the missing Gators were several beginners. Their first three receivers – Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland – were all out, as was Kyle Pitts. Grimes, Pitts and Toney gave up the game as they prepared for the NFL draft, and Copeland left because he tested positive for COVID-19. The Gators were also without four defensive starters.
The missing devices had a significant impact on defender Kyle Trask, a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. He threw three interceptions to the maximum in the season and did not throw a touchdown after entering the game with 43 in his credit. Its completion rate (57.1%) was also a low season. Second defender Emory Jones also saw significant playing time in the game, attempting 16 passes and rushing 10 times for 60 yards and a score.
Oklahoma dominated Florida, finishing with 684 yards, including 435 rushing. Head coach Lincoln Riley said he decided that “we will be a team on a mission” and “we wanted to make a statement about how we played.”
Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey said: “I saw [Gators’] renunciations. We didn’t really care who gave up and who stayed for this game. We were ready to run and get out there and play them anyway, no matter who it was. We are glad that they appeared and gave us the chance to play “.
The Sooners also said they were aware of comments made by Florida defender James Houston last week, referring to Oklahoma as “a good game,” but “not at our level.” Oklahoma host Marvin Mims said, “It certainly fueled the fire a little,” and Sooners defender Spencer Rattler wrote on Twitter after the game: “It was a good match.”
“I would be lying if I said we don’t see what our opponent said,” Rattler said later. “We went out there and did our job, we executed, we focused on what we had to do as a group and we came out on top.”