The Gators emerged victorious on Saturday, but it’s hard to call the team winners for its effort. It won 70-52 against FCS opponent Samford, but that required a comeback after Florida allowed 42 points in the first half.
The team sits at just 5-5 and needs to win one of its final games two games to get to bowl eligibility. Based on the way it has played in recent weeks, the team should be underdogs against both Missouri and Florida State.
In his winners and losers breakdown from Week 11, CBS Sports’ Shehan Jeyarajah, the Gators were squarely in the “losers” category.
The Gators managed to survive 4-6 FCS Samford in a 70-52 decision thanks to a 35-10 run in the second half, but the performance was embarrassing enough in victory that it will still force major soul-searching in Gainesville. The 52 points allowed ties the most ever given up by an FBS opponent against an FCS foe and ranks as the most ever surrendered by Florida against a non-Power Five opponent. Florida coach Dan Mullen decided to fire defensive coordinator Todd Grantham after a series of embarrassing results, but giving up a combined 92 points to South Carolina and Samford in consecutive weeks should be impossible for a team of Florida’s talent.
Mullen is running out of excuses in Gainesville, and Saturday’s game didn’t go a long way toward convincing anyone that he’s going to get things turned around.
A decision on Mullen’s future may not come until the end of the season, but it seems like UF’s ugly win over a bad FCS team may have sealed his fate.