GatorCountry brings you a new podcast as we recap the Florida Gators 41-17 win over Missouri on Saturday night.
Andrew Spivey and Nick de la Torre breakdown how the Gators defense stepped up to have a big game against Missouri, plus we breakdown the offense.
Andrew and Nick also breakdown what guys played well, plus we talk about the fight that happened before halftime.
TRANSCRIPT:
Andrew:What’s up, Gator Country? Your man, Andrew Spivey, here with Nicholas de la Torre. Nicholas, we’re back, and we had a game on Saturday night, and the Gators won. Guess what? The defense showed up.
Nick:Forgot to ring the bell, Spivey. Ding, ding, ding. Round 1.
Andrew:There’s got to be a joke in there that Covid brought the defense back or something. It’s 2020. You got to joke about everything, so there’s got to be a joke in there somewhere.
Nick:To me, I’ll just say the last line of the book first. I feel way better, sitting here on Sunday taping this with you, way better about Florida-Georgia than I did last week, the week before that, or right after the Texas A&M game. I think if you’re a Florida fan, you should feel way better about this team. We got to talk about Kyree Campbell. We got to talk about Jaydon Hill. We got to talk about Brenton Cox looking like the monster that we said, and then obviously there’s a fight and a costume, but there’s a lot of stuff to get through in this podcast today.
Andrew:I think you just said it. There was a lot of guys, and you and I talked about this on Monday, or Wednesday. There was a lot of guys that in this game were going to have to step up and play. Florida was missing Marco Wilson. They were missing Donovan Stiner. They were missing Shawn Davis. Trey Dean didn’t play the whole second half. They had guys that had to step up in the game, and for the most part those guys stepped up. Jaydon Hill played really good. I thought Rashad Torrenceplayed really good at times. I thought Kyree Campbell was good.
Nick:Tre’Vez Johnson had a big hit.
Andrew:Tre’Vez Johnson had a big hit. I thought Kamar Wilcoxson at the end of the game played well.
Nick:Jaydon Hill. Sorry. Jalen Lee.
Andrew:Jalen Lee. By the way, Princely, Princely’s a freak. How he’s not playing, I don’t know.
Nick:You saw that spin move? He looked like he was a washing machine spinning around out there.
Andrew:He reminded me of Dante Fowler, and that’s high praise, but that’s what he reminded me out there was Dante Fowler. We’ll get into that more. Basically, my point was we said there was going to have to be a lot of guys to step up, and there was, and those guys stepped up. Did Missouri help Florida out some? Yes. They did. They had a few drops here and there, but I thought overall this is kind of what we expected from this team, and that was a team that was going to get some pressure up front on Missouri, or on opposing teams, and was going to be there to break up passes and play good defense. Kaiir Elam played his best game of the year, and he had to.
Nick:That’s a big thing. Can you answer the bell when it comes, when you’re called? You can have a good game in September against North Valley State, but can you answer the bell? I mean, at the beginning of the game, I’m looking down when Florida’s warming up, and I’m like, the secondary as a group can barely play a pickup basketball game right now. Don’t tap your helmet. There’s nobody coming in. You don’t need a water break. There’s no Gatorade for you here on the sideline. If the defense is on the field, you’re going to have to play. It was one of those nights. Like you said, Kaiir Elam answered the bell. You had to have a game like that.
To me, I was so impressed with the defense. I saw a lot of this, and it was they didn’t give up points really until garbage time, so it was like Marco’s not on the field, no points. Coincidence? That’s not how it works. Florida finally got a pass rush yesterday, and it’s what we talked about for so long. You put Kyree in. Now Zach Carter can play in his normal position, which means Brenton Cox can play in his normal position. Jeremiah Moon had a sack last night. Florida, what they first did, Missouri’s game plan was come in, long sustained drives, just like we did against Kentucky, just like South Carolina did against Florida, just like Texas A&M did against Florida in the second half. Keep their defense on the field. What did Florida do? Boom, literally and figuratively punched Missouri in the mouth. Missouri ran the ball 40 yards. 40 yards rushing.
Andrew:I think that was the biggest thing. They made Missouri one-dimensional, even before it was one-dimensional time. You look at some of the rushing yards for Missouri was late in the game, when Roundtree had a couple of runs, when Florida was kind of just balls to the wall coming after them. I think that was a big thing was holding them down. Heading into the 4th quarter, I want to say it was 128 yards of total offense for Missouri.
The biggest thing too, Nick, when you look at Florida, let me pull it up real quick. I’m looking. Here it is. 71 total plays. That was a big thing that Florida has not been able to do is have a lot of plays, and it showed. They had a really good showing on offense after the first quarter. It really took them a quarter and a half to get going, especially in the red zone. The first two drives, Chris Howard, who had to come in for Evan McPherson, had two field goals. They just stalled in the red zone. There was some questionable play calling there in the red zone. There was no running at all when they got down there. But it took them a quarter and a half to get going, and then it was the Kyle Trask to Kadarius Toney show.
Nick:You can kind of write some of it off as rust, but I agree with you. You got a Paul Bunyan sized tight end, and you throw a fade to Kadarius Toney in the end zone. You completely abandon the running game when you get down there in the red zone.
Andrew:Florida’s bread and butter this year is slants and crossing routes. That’s been their bread and butter, and you didn’t see any of that the first two drives, and that was weird. You didn’t see the screen pass that they’ve been doing to the wide receiver. You didn’t see none of that the first two drives, and it was weird. That was crazy to look at. A lot of it too was early on Missouri was getting some pressure on Kyle Trask. For the first time all year, I thought that the pressure got to Kyle, and Kyle was a little erratic at times early on. Threw the interception. That was a pick six. Had a couple others that were just like that could have been there. But as the game went on, pass pro got a little bit better.
I want to ask you this, to get off topic a little bit, but there was a drive where Stewart Reese was benched for Josh Braun. Was that kind of a wakeup call to Stewart? Get your act together, or you’re out.
Nick:Florida had played the exact same five offensive linemen every single snap until that point. Through three games. What we say all the time, even to the detriment in our opinion at times, Florida will play the same guys. Did we write him off, Spivey? Did we just say, if they’re not playing, that means they stink? Because we see what the offensive line is doing, and if they’re not bringing in backups, that means the backups are worse than what we’re seeing. Had we written them off?
Andrew:I don’t know.
Nick:Maybe not written them off, but we had maybe even come to that conclusion. Listen, it must be real bad, or maybe not bad, but they’re just not ready.
Andrew:That was going to be my thing is they were just not ready. You see it even in the second half on the goal line. They had Tarquin and Braun in the game to play a little bit. Again, the biggest thing that we’ve heard with Braun is Braun’s physically ready, but he’s just not mentally got everything down to the point where he’s able to go at the speed that it’s going to take to be successful. I’ll say this. I don’t want to bash the offensive line too much, but the offensive line struggles majorly. It’s the interior guys, but in the running game, and it’s the exterior guys, the tackles, in the passing game. The group of Heggie, Gouraige, and Reese in the running game is terrible. Terrible. The tackles of Delance and Stone are terrible in pass pro a lot of times.
Nick:I think Delance probably caused the interception. It was like a breakdown on the right side that Trask is trying to get a pass off quick. He gets tipped at the line, but the pressure I think was coming from that Delance side.
Andrew:Yeah. You see that. You say, they had 514 yards, and yes, we’re kind of nitpicking a little bit, but the offensive line does have to improve. I think that is going to be a tremendous test this week against Georgia, and we’ll get into that more. For the most part, Florida did run the ball for 169 yards, and Kyle Trask had 47 of those, and we seen Anthony Richardson get in. He had the fumble, but that fumble, I don’t get onto him too bad for that fumble. He was trying to get extra yards, and he had the ball pretty secure. It was just he was stood up, and someone came in and did exactly what they were supposed to do and ripped it from him. Luckily, Kyle Pitts recovered it, but I thought Anthony Richardson looked good in the couple snaps he got.
Nick:I’m excited about him. I need to address this real quick, because I’ve harped on it, the killer instinct, all the time. Florida starts off, field goal, field goal. They won’t be happy about it, because you get down to the red zone and settle for field goals. Hats off to Chris Howard. Been at Florida for four years, was perfect last night, and it was his first time ever kicking a field goal in a college game. You got field goal, field goal, interception, punt, punt. Then you get the ball back. You’re down 7-6. I’m looking. What’s the time?
Andrew:Three minutes and something.
Nick:There was 3:51 left, and I said, okay, you’re down. You go down, you get a touchdown on this drive, you have the lead, and you get the ball at half. I go, this is killer instinct time. This is when you can change the game completely. Can you do it? Boom. Florida drives down the field, six plays, 74 yards. Only take 1:41 off the clock, or take two minutes off the clock.
Andrew:Kadarius. Holy cow.
Nick:Yeah. Still no words. If you asked me, if you sat me down in a chair and said, I will pay you $20 million, this rich blind man wants you to describe with your words how KadariusToney just scored that touchdown, I’d go, I got nothing for you, man. He went, and he was in the end zone. I don’t know.
Andrew:He had zero business scoring on that play. Zero business scoring on that play.
Nick:I think his body is made of slime, and it’s just like a slime ball running into a keyhole, and then, all of a sudden, you’re like, yeah, no, it just doesn’t really have any bones or any form, so it kind of just morphed into the three people that were trying to tackle him. Then all of a sudden, he’s three yards off to their left and running by himself.
Andrew:That’s the thing. You look at it, and not only did he break a few tackles because of his speed, but he broke some tackles because of his just straight up, he’s a physical guy that I think a lot of people forget about. He’s a guy that is very physical, and he’s not going to down on the first hit, by any means, and he seen than. Then later in the game, on the following drive, he’s wide open for a touchdown. Then the following drive of the 3rd quarter, he does some ballet to score in the end zone.
Nick:That’s what I was really getting at was that Florida answered my question, which they had not answered in any of the three weeks. Have some killer instinct. You go, and you score, and then your defense comes back and goes, good job, offense. Here’s the ball back. Now you’ve got another minute in one play. Now I go from saying, you’re down 7-6, just get a touchdown, get to half, and then you get the ball back. Now you’ve scored 14 points real quick, and now you’re up 20-7 at halftime instead of down 7-6.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:To me, that was finally. The defense stepped up.
Andrew:That’s what this team should be with this offense.
Nick:Yes.
Andrew:This is what this team should be with this offense. This offense is such a killer offense that a minute to go is eternity for this offense. It just is. You have a guy like KadariusToney. Then you got a guy like Kyle Pitts. That’s a ton of time. You shouldn’t be worried about the time. Some people were angry a little bit with Dan Mullen, because he called a timeout, and then he took the penalty and threw the hail Mary at the end of the half to Kyle Pitts. Hell, why not? You got a 6’5” beast of a tight end, throw it up for grabs for him. Give him a shot.
Nick:No. No. What they did is they took a 60-yard punt off the books, Andrew. That’s what they did.
Andrew:Yeah. Well. Let’s finish the game. Let’s finish going through the game here before we get into the fight at halftime. They come out of the gate and get the ball, and boom, they go right back and Kadarius scores again. Then they just put the game out of reach there, because the defense continued to play. For the first time all year, when it was the opposing team with their back to the wall, having to throw the ball, instead of bend this team really stood up and allowed the offense to keeping going. Didn’t give up quick scores. They gave up the 10 points in the 4th quarter. Yes, but a lot of that was against the even more backups, some walk-ons in the game and that kind of stuff. Yes, they gave up 10 points, the defense did, but at the end of the day, I don’t exactly say they gave up 10 points, just because it was the walk-ons. Garbage time.
Nick:The defense played, for me, unbelievably. I’m pulling up.
Andrew:You look at it here. Here it is right here. They had 126 yards of offense in the 4th quarter, Missouri did. Through three quarters they had 122.
Nick:Yeah. Then in the 4th quarter, the game’s out of reach. You start putting in all kinds of guys. You’ve got walk-ons. Nick Oelrich. Nothing against him, but he’s a guy that is only playing when the game is 41-10.
Andrew:Big key, Nick, was 1 for 10 on 3rd down.
Nick:Boom. Todd Grantham. In your mouth.
Andrew:That was a big play to get out. That’s been a problem.
Nick:We were begging, Andrew. Begging. Just please, just get off the field. We’re finally getting the chance to see an offense that is exciting, and just please, defense, get off the field.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:They did that against Missouri. Then this is the result. Florida’s defense doesn’t have to be the ’85 Bears. They just have to get off the field, and then you’re going to get results like 41-17. That’s how special this offense is. I mean, shoot, it’s just been such a crappy three weeks for us. We were called liars after Florida lost to A&M and the way the defense had looked. Then everything that happened the two weeks after that.
I feel like this is exactly what Gator Nation needed. They needed a win like this. They needed the defense to show up. Like I said before, I feel a lot better heading into Florida-Georgia, given the way Florida’s defense looked. It was guys all over the place. Rashad Torrence. Kaiir Elam. I think Trey Dean was playing fine before he rolled his ankle there. Kyree Campbell. Brenton Cox. TJ Slaton. You name them. Florida had a great day on defense.
Andrew:The biggest question mark heading into that Georgia game, and we’ll go to that more on Wednesday, is going to be how does the run defense stack up? We know that Kyree Campbell made a big difference, but that’s Georgia’s game plan. Georgia does not want to throw the ball. They want to line up.
Nick:Listen, Jake Fromm ain’t coming through that door. Matthew Stafford ain’t coming through that door. They’re going to try to run the ball.
Andrew:They want to run the ball, run the ball, and run the ball more. They scored 14 points against Kentucky’s defense, who is not the best in the world. Again, that’s what they want to do. We’ll get into that more, but like you said with Kyree, Kyree playing allowed everyone to go back to their natural spots. I’ll be honest. At the beginning of the game, Brenton Cox looked terrible. Then after the first two drives, he decided it was time. I think he was a little embarrassed on the second drive, when Bazelak, is that how you say the quarterback’s name? Bazelak.
Nick:Maybe.
Andrew:Something like that. Whatever it is. Blocked him on a reverse. When I say blocked him, he blocked him really, really well. I think he was a little embarrassed, and then after that he decided it was game time, and he was ready to show he’s a five-star. He had his best game of the year, by far. Had a couple quarterback hurries, three quarterback hurries. Had a tackle for loss in the game and five overall tackles, but played really well overall just being a pass disrupter.
Nick:Yeah. I was sitting there, and when he went down, he’s grabbing his left knee. I think that was the first drive. I’m thinking, no.
Andrew:First play of the game.
Nick:I’m thinking, not this week. Not right before Georgia. Luckily, he came back. I think probably just playing a little timid right when he first came back, because he got blocked by a quarterback on a running play.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:To me, maybe just not trusting that yet, and then you play a little bit, and now you’re trusting again.
Andrew:Right. Maybe. Overall, really good game. You look at the guys on defense played really well, and then offensively Dameon Pierce had a really good game. Not only running the ball, but he had a good game catching the ball. Had a couple of catches, two catches, 45-yards. There was a lot of ankles that were broken. Lot of ankles that were broken in the open field there. Nay’Quan Wright continued to play well. Just with Malik, Malik has his spurts where he has one or two catches a game, and then he just kind of goes MIA. The same thing kind of with Dameon Pierce, Nick. You see him, he has a really good 1st quarter, always it seems like, and then he doesn’t do anything. Last night it was until early in the 4th quarter when he came back in the game. I don’t understand that. It seems like Nay’Quan’s getting kind of the middle portion of the game carries. I guess that’s just simply because of the depth there.
Nick:Yeah. Didn’t see Nay’Quan until late. You could say, or you could have made the case that Malik’s going to be your pass catcher, but I think we’ve seen all three of those guys now kind of show that they can do that.
Andrew:No offense to Malik, but I like Nay’Quan being that guy.
Nick:Yeah. Shoot. If you’ve read my story, I love him. I’m a huge Nay’Quan Wright fan. His story is incredible. I’m a big Nay’Quan Wright guy.
Andrew:Like you said with Dameon Pierce, he did really well. I think the biggest thing for me with Dameon Pierce, Nick, is Dameon is showing that he can pass block as well. That was a question mark heading into the year was who was going to be that guy to pass block. Me, I’ll say it, take it and eat my words now, but Dameon Pierce had shown me nothing before that he was quality pass blocker. Now he’s shown me he can be that guy.
Nick:Right. I think the whole, we’ve said how many nice things. We’re running out of nice things to say about the offense. Other than maybe some red zone play calling, it was just a great day for the offense.
Andrew:Really good day for the offense. They continued to roll. I think that they, for the most part, looked like they were a team that had shook off the rust, and they’re ready to go. 514 yards total offense. Could have had a lot more, if they’d have kept going in the 4th quarter. Big shout out to Chris Howard though. Comes in and perfect on the night.
Nick:Yeah. 21 or 22-year-old guy, a senior. Had just kind of been backing up and backing up. All of a sudden, your kicker goes down. Listen, there’s not a kicking controversy. I watched Chris Howard. I felt like it was the Austin Hardin days, where I’m spending pregame just sitting there staring at the kicker and seeing where he can go. He didn’t try anything longer than 40 yards in pregame, and when Evan McPherson’s healthy and ready to play, he will play, because having a guy that you feel comfortable kicking a 56-yarder completely changes the way you now call offensive plays. Chris Howard, could not ask anything more of him. Every kickoff was either fair caught or a touchback. Perfect on PATs. Perfect on field goals. Stage was not too big for the guy. He had three PAT attempts in 2019, but had never even attempted a field goal in college.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Huge. Another guy that we’re talking about. We’re talking about guys answering the bell. Answered the bell.
Andrew:Had a good game. Like you said, you needed somebody to step up, and he did. You know now going forward if something was to happen to Evan that you would feel okay with this. That’s a big thing.
Let’s go to the fight, Nick. Clearly a late hit. Clearly a late hit.
Nick:I didn’t think it was super late. When you slow it down, it looks worse, so I didn’t think it was super late, but certainly high and certainly by the letter of the law targeting.
Andrew:Yes.
Nick:Hit helmet to helmet, threw his shoulder into the chin. To me, it wasn’t super late, but that’s targeting. That guy’s ejected.
Andrew:The guy hit him from the back as well. So, it was double hit, one high, one low, on there. I don’t know if it was super late. I thought it was definitely late. I definitely thought it was targeting.
Here’s the thing for me. Props to the guys for taking up for the quarterback. Props to them. You take up for your quarterback. You have to. You just have to. I have zero issue whatsoever of the guys taking up for their quarterback. It did not need to go as far as it did. You did not need to throw punches. Zach Carter and Antwuan Powell both were ejected, and their status for the Georgia game will be up to the SEC on probably Monday, when they review everything. Their ejection does not mean it’s an automatic suspension for the Georgia game. The SEC could, and I would say probably steps in and does, simply because there was punches thrown, and they were clear and everything else.
So, I have zero problem with the guys taking that. Did not need to go as far. I like Dan Mullen standing up for it, but I did think that it went on too long. Does that make sense?
Nick:Yeah. You and I, you coached, you played, and I played. I played baseball, but to me, did Dan Mullen escalate the situation by running out in the manner that he did? Yes. If I’m in that Florida Gators locker room, and he doesn’t do that, I have a problem. Coach, did you see? The guy just launched himself into our quarterback’s head. Late. It wasn’t called. Where were you? Why aren’t you sticking up for us? If I’m on the team, I would have more of a problem with Dan not reacting and just walking into the locker room at halftime, than what he did.
Now, I think what has happened, because of the 90,000 in the Swamp comment, and then because of the team getting sick and Dan getting sick, what happened is Florida football was put onto a stage, a national stage.
Andrew:They’re under a microscope.
Nick:They’re under a microscope. You’re getting people that wouldn’t normally look at Florida football, normally maybe not even tuning into college football, that are now paying attention to the University of Florida, and that’s because of something Dan Mullen has said. Whatever you say, whether you agree with what he said or you don’t, more eyes are on Florida now because of that. So, now you’re getting people weighing in on this situation that don’t really have any business talking about Florida, just because it’s not in their wheelhouse.
I’m not saying anyone stick to sports or stick to whatever you’re doing. I’m saying we have a lot of perspective and inside knowledge on what Florida’s doing, how Florida’s players feel about Dan, things like that. Does it look good on a national landscape to have your head coach freaking out and having to be held back? No. But I’m saying as a competitor, there is not a single player in that locker room that is embarrassed. I’m looking at a story saying that Dan Mullen should be embarrassed, and Florida should be embarrassed about what he did, and then wearing a costume after the game. It was freaking Halloween, dude. That’s why he’s wearing a costume.
Second, I don’t think there’s a single player in the locker room that would say, I’m embarrassed. I think Coach did too much. Was it over the top a little bit? Yeah, but he was pissed off from a bunch of calls in the first half, and that was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. As a competitor, does it look good for Florida? No. Am I mad that Dan Mullen got mad? No.
Andrew:Yeah. That’s kind of my thoughts as well. Dan Mullen had to do that. There’s zero question. He had to do that. If not, he takes the risk of losing his team. You have to do that. Did he cause the fight? I don’t know. I don’t know that he caused the fight per se. I don’t think it escalates as much if he don’t, but like you said, he loses his team for that.
The only thing I said, and again I’m trying to say this the right way, because I agree with him, but I think it went on too long is what I’m saying. I think that he got his point across. He kept on, and that’s what escalated the problem even more. I don’t know. Like I say, he had to do it. It just didn’t need to go on that long. Obviously, you wish your players don’t throw punches. We don’t know what was said in the middle of that. A Missouri guy coldcocked his coach, and that was funny.
By the way, I love my guy, KT. He’s a 251 guy. Love him to death. I don’t know how KT didn’t get in the middle of that scramble. KT likes to rumble.
Nick:Here’s the other thing too. Talking about competitive, being a competitor. If I’m Kyle Trask, and I got hit like that, and my offensive line just walked back into the locker room, you better believe I’m going to have something to say to them when I get to the locker room. Hey, did any of you guys see that? No one stuck up for me? That’s what they were doing. They were sticking up for their guy. Did it get carried away? Yes.
Andrew:The offensive line did end up playing really well in the second half, because they were pissed off. Maybe that’s the wakeup call they needed. I don’t know. Here’s the thing too. Dan Mullen probably used that as a wakeup call.
Nick:100%. They played different.
Andrew:Here’s the thing. That doesn’t bother me. That doesn’t bother me. I messed with you during the Braves series against the Marlins, when you guys plunked Acuna. It woke your team up. If that’s the spark that gets them going, that’s the spark that gets them going. I have no problem with it. The only thing I said that I had a problem with is I think it went on too long.
Nick:Yeah. I don’t know how you stop it. Once something like that gets going, and tempers have been lost and thrown out the window, I don’t know how you stop it. You got to have some guys. I mean, Dan was heated. Nick Savage couldn’t hold him back. Had to be held back by a couple different people throughout the whole scrum. To me, I understand why it’s blown up. It’s just because, like you said, Florida’s under a microscope. As somebody who has grown up in locker rooms, who loves sports, that stuff is going to happen.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Whether you like it or not, something like that in the heat of a game is going to happen.
Andrew:He’s going to pay for it. His pocket’s going to be lighter.
Nick:He’s got to call Lane Kiffin’s guy?
Andrew:Yeah. His pocket’s going to be lighter in a couple days, and he’s going to pay the consequences. Several guys paid the consequences as well, because they’re out. Again, I don’t even know what I’m saying when I say this. It had to be done. It didn’t have to go on as long. How you do that, I don’t know. But he had to do that. Period.
I’m like you. If my coach don’t go after them, something’s wrong. I remember this play specifically when I was coaching, and I got an ass chewing from my head coach about it. A guy pulls my tight end down by his face mask. They didn’t give him a call. I remember saying, and I didn’t think I said it loud enough, but I did, I absolutely did. I said, if this jerk would call a face mask, my guy wouldn’t be mad. I got a 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct on the sidelines.
Nick:Are you sure you said jerk, or are you saying jerk because we’re on a nice family friendly podcast?
Andrew:I said jerk because we’re on PG-13.
Nick:I don’t know if jerk gets you 15, Andrew.
Andrew:No. It was definitely worse than that. It was more than that, for sure. Point being, in the heat of the moment, you do that. Was I proud of myself for it? Absolutely. You mess with my guy, and I went to war for him. It is what it is.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:Yeah.
Nick:That’s what it is. I had people texting me last night and bashing Dan. I think Dan’s getting bashed right now. Went over the top. I think I just might be repeating myself now. Over the top, like you said. Went on for probably a little too long. At the end of the day, Dan was sticking up for his quarterback, sticking up for his players.
Andrew:I don’t know if either side is wrong in this whole thing. Let me say it like that. I don’t know if either side is wrong. Did Dan instigate the fight a little bit? I think you can make the argument he did.
Nick:I think not instigate it, escalated it.
Andrew:Escalated it. Yes. Did Dan do what was right? Yes. So, I don’t know that there is a right or a wrong answer on either side of this. Here’s the thing. People can say what they want to. Do that to one of Nick Saban’s guys and see what Nick Sabandoes. Nick Saban’s going to react that same way. The same way.
The one thing I will say is this. Some people on Twitter were after the Missouri coach and calling him different things, everything else. I don’t know that the Missouri coach even saw it, because it was on Florida’s sideline and everything else. I’m not even sure he was aware of what instigated the fight, if you want me to be honest.
Nick:Honestly, I don’t know if Dan saw it. There’s so much stuff happening. Dan’s probably looking at the pass, after it leaves Kyle’s hand, but then as a coach, you don’t see something, but now you’re seeing your players shoving, and you probably hear a player on the sidelines say, they hit Trask late. Now you’re working with, because Dan said he didn’t see it live. He didn’t see the hit. He was just told that it was late. He was already pissed off about multiple non-calls in his eyes.
Andrew:Pass interferences on Trevon Grimes that never happened. Pass interference on Kaiir Elam that never happened. Yeah. You name it.
Nick:He’s already mad about that.
Andrew:No, I’m with you. Again, like I said, I don’t know that either side is wrong in this whole thing. At the end of the day, he’ll pay the price for his actions and probably pay a nice little fine and everything else. Again, I don’t know that he’s wrong, and I think that if you asked him again if he’d do it all over again, he’d probably say yeah. He probably would.
Nick:Yeah. Dan Mullen would. Well, he’s not going to say that right now.
Andrew:Right.
Nick:Because they’re trying not to get suspensions for Georgia. He’s trying to make his fine as small as possible. But yes, he would do it again.
Andrew:What was the play that Mac lost his cool about that time?
Nick:Kelvin Taylor doing the throat slash.
Andrew:Yes. That was it. People were upset about that as well. I think if you asked him again, he’ll tell you the same thing. Don’t do that. There’s certain things that happens in a game, and you have to do it. You have to stand up for your team. You’re the one that is the one that stands in for the team. If you ask your guys to go to war for you, you better go to war for them.
Nick:Absolutely.
Andrew:I don’t know. We have to talk about this real quick. LSU is awful.
Nick:Dude. They charged, they ran up all of their credit cards in 2019.
Andrew:Odell ran them.
Nick:They ran up all their credit cards, maxed all the credit cards out in 2019, and they bought some beautiful diamond rings, and they bought a beautiful 16-0 record, or whatever it was record. Now the bill is due every Saturday, and the debt collectors are hounding. They’re knocking on LSU’s door. Hey, you owe us money. They are taking it on the chin this year. LSU is awful. Awful. They are paying for all the fun they had. The bill came back, and the money is due each week.
Andrew:I mean.
Nick:If Florida shows up the way that they did on Saturday, they will beat LSU by 30 points.
Andrew:Yeah. 100%. That’s just a bad LSU football team. I mean, Auburn is not good, by any means at all, but the game wasn’t even close. Bo Nix was asked after the game, he said, was this game ever close in your mind? He said, no. If an opposing team tells you that, that’s bad. That’s bad.
Nick:They made Bo Nix look good.
Andrew:Probably saved Gus Malzahn his job.
Nick:I know you love that.
Andrew:Whatever. Guy’s a terrible football coach. If you guys want to keep him, keep him. Whatever. He’s not getting any better. Dude’s not a good football coach.
Nick:Let him have it, Spivey. Let him have it.
Andrew:Not a good football coach. Keep him though. Probably beat Alabama this year, because that’s what he figures out a way to do is beat teams that he shouldn’t beat. Then he loses every game that he should win. The refs didn’t have to help him this week though.
Nick:No. The refs didn’t have to help him this week. How much more time do we have?
Andrew:About five minutes. What you got?
Nick:What’d you think about the costume? Dan Mullen’s Darth Vader costume after the game.
Andrew:People are mad about it. It’s Halloween. He’s got kids. He’s having fun. It’s the same thing we talk about with everything. People want to take the fun out of everything. Let him have fun. If he’d have walked out there with Darth Vader on the sidelines, I wouldn’t care. Who cares? It’s Halloween. Let him have some fun. He just won a football game. He won 41-17 after two weeks of Covid, went through everything else. Who cares? Who honestly cares? Who did he hurt? Who did he hurt in that situation?
Nick:Yup. Apparently a bunch of people’s feelings. That’s it.
Andrew:But why? Why? I don’t understand that.
Nick:I don’t get it, man. Someone was like, why is he doing this? I’m like, it’s Halloween. He dressed up for Halloween. He’s a football coach having fun. It’s not like the president of the United States came out in a costume after a national tragedy to do a press conference. He’s a coach who just won a football game after his team had dozens of players in quarantine. He’s a football coach that just won a football game at night and was having fun by wearing a costume.
Andrew:Who cares? Who honestly cares?
Nick:I didn’t.
Andrew:That’s my thing. He did his job. Who cares? Listen, like you said, is Dan Mullen under some major scrutiny because of what he did? Yes. Is it rightfully so? Yes. It is. But let’s not nitpick over a freaking costume. Here’s the thing. It’s not even like he came out as, I don’t even know, like a bomber or a serial killer. You know what I’m saying? It’s not like he came out in a costume that was derogatory. He came out as Darth Vader. Who cares? That’s my thing. Who cares? It was one of those things like I didn’t even care. I was just like, whatever. He’s having fun. Who cares?
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:I’ve noticed this. Missouri people are bitter. They’re very bitter. They were in my mentions. One guy was talking about Dan Mullen starts a fight, his wife makes out with the guys, and he gives his guy Covid. I’m sitting here thinking, you’re reaching, buddy. First of all, this whole story about Megan making out with her players is beyond ridiculous. Second of all, Dan didn’t give nobody Covid. Whatever. If his comments gave him Covid, please let me know the magic, because I would love to say things and they come true.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:That’s my thing. I don’t know. I’ve gotten to the point, Nick, where a lot of takes now are just becoming takes because 2020 is so stupid. Honestly, for the first time in a long time, Twitter just gets on my nerves. Is what it is. Guess what? Gators are 3-1 and have a chance to go to Jacksonville and win the East, basically.
Nick:Yeah.
Andrew:And they’re playing football.
Nick:That’s what it is.
Andrew:They’re playing football.
Nick:That’s what it is. It’ll be a big week.
Andrew:Yeah. One thing I will say is this, Nick. The SEC Alternate channel needs to be thrown in the garbage.
Nick:I’m so glad I didn’t have to deal with that.
Andrew:First of all, during the 2nd quarter on the punt that Florida swore hit one of the Missouri players, SEC Alternate channel had no video of it. They didn’t follow the ball. They had left it on the punt returner. It was bad. Nick, tell everybody where they can find us. We’re going to get out of here. We’ll see everyone on Wednesday, as we get into Florida-Georgia and get into this big game for the Gators.
Nick:Huge week of football. Make sure you’re sticking around. We’ll have a ton of coverage. Monday, about the win, and then obviously Monday, Tuesday, late Monday and then Tuesday, we start moving onto Georgia.
So, www.GatorCountry.com for all your Florida Gator news. The podcast is there in audio and transcript form. You can find the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search Gator Country. Hit subscribe. Never miss an episode. Do your social media thing. @GatorCountry on Facebook and Twitter. @TheGatorCountry on Instagram. I’m @NickdelaTorreGC. He’s @AndrewSpiveyGC.
Andrew:There you go. Quick week for the Gators. They have Tuesday off. You’re listening to this on Monday. The Gators have already been through basically a walkthrough practice for Georgia. Big week ahead. As always, go Braves and chomp, chomp.
Nick:You stay classy, Gator Country.