Florida football took a punch to the face in the first half of its home game against the Samford Bulldogs, a Football Championship Series school that came to Gainesville with a 4-5 record that matched the Gators’ so far this season. Trailing at halftime by a touchdown after allowing a ridiculous 42 points, the defense stepped up in the final 30 minutes and got a few key stops while quarterback Emory Jones carried the team with a career performance for the win.
What was evidenced from the results we saw on Saturday was that the firing of defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and offensive lines coach John Hevesy made little if any tangible improvement to this squad — there could be an argument that it was even worse on defense, somehow. The boobirds came out early in the Swamp and by the end of the fourth quarter, the seat under head coach Dan Mullen reached a searing heat with a large segment of the fanbase calling for his dismissal.
The staff here at Gators Wire has their own takes, which we present in our weekly Good, Bad and Ugly feature. Read below our respective breakdowns of what was nearly a most calamitous disaster.