Editor’s note: This article was originally published by USA TODAY Sports and has been republished in its entirety below.
Down eight starters and 17 players total due to a combination of COVID-19-related absences and player opt outs in preparation for the NFL draft, the Florida Gators hardly looked like themselves in their 55-20 loss in the Cotton Bowl to the Oklahoma Sooners.
Florida didn’t have to put themselves through the rout, Gators coach Dan Mullen said after the game, since the Gators did not meet certain scholarship minimums and could have opted out.
“With the number of people that were out for the game, we were under numbers actually,” Mullen said, per ESPN. “We had the numbers to not play the game.”
The Gators wanted to play the top-10 matchup as a learning opportunity for the younger players on the roster.
A post-mortem on the Gators’ blowout loss to Oklahoma
“Our young guys wanted to go play in that game, and they wanted to get that experience and wanted to be on that stage,” Mullen said.
While quarterback Kyle Trask, who struggled mightily — throwing interceptions on the Gators’ first three drives — played, the Heisman Trophy finalist was without tight end and favorite target Kyle Pitts and wide receivers Jacob Copeland, Trevon Grimes and Kadarius Toney.
Mullen said he felt the Cotton Bowl wasn’t a game from the “2020 football team that you saw.”
“The last game the 2020 team played was 11 days ago,” said Mullen, referencing Florida’s loss to No. 1 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game.
“There were 25 guys missing off the 2020 football team out there tonight,” Mullen said. “That was kind of a kick-start for us for the future, an opportunity for the young guys to play.”
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