Preparation is everything when it comes to SEC football, and if the Florida Gators proved anything Saturday night, it was that they were not prepared.
Kentucky ran all over the defense and the Gators never found a rhythm on offense. The Florida team of recent years didn’t look too far gone after all. It just took a decent team to bring the dirty laundry back out.
And as it turns out, the underwhelming performance on the field was a direct product of the way the team practiced all week.
“We’ve got to learn how to practice every single day,” said head coach Dan Mullen. “I think guys are kind of used to, like practices are a lot more like a walk through, and they’re not. You don’t end up being a really good, physical team when you do that. We’re going to certainly work an awful lot on that and continue to build, continue to grow, and hopefully take another step forward.”
The Gators can’t expect to go into practices with that mindset and then turn things around when the lights come on. That may have been the way the previous staff operated, but Mullen expects a lot more from his practices.
Feleipe Franks is the starting quarterback, and therefore, a leader of the team. He said he would be the first one to speak up on Monday to be sure guys are giving their all.
“It’s just about the players—not the coaches—the players getting each other going and not allowing that to be a part of our program anymore,” Franks said. “You can’t halfway go in practice. You have to go full speed. Whether it be the scouts or anything, that’s just one of the things we have to get better at.”
It is yet to be seen if this team has the mental or physical toughness to get through a degrading loss like this one and come out stronger on the other side. The Gators can either let the disappointment carry over into the coming weeks or learn from it and move on.
“The biggest thing is you can’t dwell on the past too long,” said wide receiver Josh Hammond. “I think that happened last year. We lost, and then lost again, and then lost again. You know, eventually it got to a point where everybody was like hanging their heads again and again. I think the biggest thing was just we got to get past it.”
Obviously, all losses hurt and Florida never wants to lose a game, but Mullen is ready to see how his team reacts. He said it is still up in the air whether the defeat will hurt or help the team moving forward.
Had the Gators come back and won the game in the end, the same struggles in the trenches and tackling problems would have still been there, but the mood around the team would have been much more positive.
Players may have gone to the next practice feeling good about themselves and given the same poor effort throughout the week that put them in the position to fall to Kentucky in the first place.
This game should serve as a reality check for Florida as it prepares for a matchup with Colorado State next week.
“One game never defines anything,” Mullen said. “That’s one game in a long season. Much more importantly to me is not where we’re at right at this very second, it’s where our attitude’s going to be on Monday when we show up to get ready for next week’s game. I’ll have a better idea at that point where we might be as a program.”