Following a brutal 24-23 overtime loss on the road in Columbia, Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators are in the worst spot of his tenure. The Gators are now 5-6 on the year, hoping to become bowl eligible next week against 5-6 FSU at home. Florida finished the year with their worst conference record since 1992 at 2-6, with wins over Vanderbilt and Tennessee. The Gators only won one game on the road in 2021 to the USF Bulls in week two.
Even though Florida lost in Columbia, the defense gave up only 24 points, including a touchdown in overtime.
"You know, obviously it [the loss] doesn't feel good. But I'm trying to look at things from a positive standpoint. Defensively, I think we played lights out all night except for a couple plays that were extremely late in the game," Valentino said.
Despite the turmoil around the program, defensive tackle Antonio Valentino remains behind his head coach, Dan Mullen.
"I mean, I wouldn't have come to the University of Florida if I didn't believe in coach Mullen," Valentino said late Saturday night.
Valentino made sure the media and fans knew the players understand the expectations they are under once they put on the Orange and Blue.
"...when it comes to, you know, being a Florida Gator and playing to that championship, you know, caliber and expectation, the details have to be extremely, extremely important," Valentino said.
"Everything has to be sharp, you know, everybody's got to be sharp and do their responsibility on, you know, all phases of the ball, offense, defense, special teams. You know, and that's what coach was saying."
Being the leader that he is, Valentino takes responsibility to spread Mullen's word to the team.
"...I'm going to do my best in the locker room and in all situations to echo his message because, you know, that's my coach. You know, what he says to us, to me, is very important. So, whatever coach says, that's what we're doing, and I've got his back."
Moving forward, the Gators may deal with significant distractions as the team moves to prepare for Florida State, which could be their final game of the season.
