Steve Spurrier did it with Terry Dean and Danny Weurffel, Urban Meyer did it with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow and now Dan Mullen is trying his hand with Anthony Richardson and Emory Jones.
Florida was ranked 11th in the country going into their matchup against Alabama back on September 18. Mullen’s playcalling had the Gators go for two down 31-29 with just over three minutes left in regulation. Rather than give the ball off to Malik Davis or Nay’Quan Wright on the two-point conversion, who had torched Alabama for 153 yards combined, Jones called his own number and was immediately stuffed in the backfield.
First loss of the season.
Going on the road to unranked Kentucy two weeks later, the loss did not hurt the Gators, as all the upsets in front of them allowed their ranking to improve to 10. Florida lost a very winnable game 20-13, which became the catalyst for Kentucky’s rise up the Top 25, while the Gators plummeted to 20.
Two losses in three weeks.
Now it was time to go on the road in Death Valley to play LSU. This was the week Ed Orgeron indicated he would be stepping down as Tiger head coach at season’s end. Someone forgot to tell the Gators this, in a 49-42 loss. Yet again another one-score game that Florida could have easily come out on top in.
Not what you want going into your annual matchup in Jacksonville against Georgia in “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.” Especially when the Bulldogs are the top team in the country going into this game for the first time since 1942. Georgia would go onto win the National Championship that year, while the Gators would not win another game the rest of the season after their record-breaking 75-0 loss.
Now 4-4, the Gators need to go at least 2-2 the rest of the way just to be bowl-eligable. With South Carolina, Samford, Missouri and Florida State left, it is possible for Florida to run the table and finish at 8-4. This will get them into a more respectable bowl, possibly on New Year’s Day. The alternative is playing primetime on ESPN before Christmas, much like the program was doing once Meyer left after the 2010 season.
Orgeron stepped down, but Mullen is quickly finding his seat is getting hotter and hotter the more this season progresses. After his first three seasons found Florida finishing ranked in the top 15, the Gators do not have the schedule to finish ranked once bowl games are announced the week after Thanksgiving.
As a Florida fan going back to the Emmitt Smith days, what Mullen is trying to do in 2021 is enough to make you want to jump in a muddy swamp and take your chances with real alligators. When Spurrier and Meyer used their systems, the offense was predicated on one pocket passer and one runner.
Mullin is using two runners and the results are obvious.
Neither Richardson or Jones do a very good job hanging onto the football for Florida’s offense. Jones has thrown nine interceptions to Richardson’s three. The Gators only have 16 passing touchdowns through seven games. Richardson also had a lost fumble against Georgia inside his own 10 yard line that the Bulldogs cashed in for six on the very next play.
There has been no shortage of surprises throughout the college football landscape as we go into the final month of the regular season. Texas A&M used the Alabama game to right their season, starting fifth, falling out of the rankings completely and now back into the top 15.
Mullen has the Gators primed not to see a number that high until recruiting class rankings come out in the spring of 2022.
-JC24