Florida coach Dan Mullen said his team could have chosen not to play in Wednesday night’s Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic based on the player’s availability, but chose it anyway because the players wanted to compete.
After a 55-20 loss to No. 6 Oklahoma, Mullen said his exhausted roster would have made the No. 7 Gators skip the game.
“With the number of people out for the game, we were actually below the numbers,” said Mullen. “We didn’t have the numbers to play the game.
Mullen added, “I give credit to our boys. … Our young boys wanted to play in that game, and they wanted to get that experience and want to be on that stage.”
On Tuesday, Mullen estimated he would have 60 stock market players available. The SEC set a minimum threshold of 53 stock market players to participate in games this season, but teams could choose to play even if they didn’t make it to that number. There were also minimums in three key positions: quarterbacks (one), defensive linemen (four), and offensive linemen (seven).
Mullen did not specify whether the Gators were below the minimum at any specific position.
“I watched a little bit – I don’t know, maybe this is wrong – that wasn’t the 2020 football team you saw,” Mullen said of the Gators. “There were 25 guys missing from the 2020 soccer team tonight. That was a kind of kickstart for us for the future, an opportunity for the young guys 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 starters. Their top three receivers – Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland – were all out, and so were star tight end Kyle Pitts. Grimes, Pitts and Toney retired from the game as they prepared for the NFL draft and Copeland was eliminated for testing positive for COVID-19. The Gators didn’t have four defensive starters either.
The missing pass catchers had a significant impact on quarterback Kyle Trask, a Heisman Trophy finalist. He threw three high-season interceptions and didn’t hit a touchdown after coming into the game with 43 to his name. His completion rate (57.1%) was also a season low. Sophomore quarterback Emory Jones also saw a lot of playing time in the game, trying 16 passes and rushing 10 times for 60 yards and a score.
Oklahoma dominated Florida, finishing with 684 yards, including 435 rushing. Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said they had decided “we were going to be a team on a mission” and “we wanted to make a statement with the way we played.”
Oklahoma center Creed Humphrey said, “We saw the [Gators’] opt-outs. We didn’t really care who opted out and who stayed for this game. We were ready to roll over and go out and play them anyway no matter who it was. We’re just glad they showed up and gave us the chance to play. “
The Sooners also said they were aware of comments Florida linebacker James Houston made last week, referring to Oklahoma as “a good matchup” but “not at our level.” Marvin Mims, freshman receiver from Oklahoma, said, “It sure kindled the fire a bit,” and Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler tweeted after the game: “It was a good matchup.”
“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t see what our opponent said,” Rattler said later. “We went out and just did our job, executed, focused on what we had to do as a group and came out on top.”