Following Florida’s 24-23 overtime loss to Missouri Saturday night, Florida head football coach Dan Mullen made the comment that the Gators had lost their last seven one-possession games.
In what is already a wildly frustrating year for Mullen, the team, the fans, and everyone involved or invested in Florida football, that note seems to add salt in the wound.
“It’s a play here and there and looking at our guys, that’s on us,” Mullen said after the Gators’ loss to Missouri. “It’s making sure that we have got every aspect of the game covered and our players have every aspect of their preparation covered to make that one more play. It’s tough. Losing seven straight one-score games is tough. That’s a tough one.”
Florida has lost seven consecutive one-possession games dating back to a 41-38 loss to Texas A&M in the 2020 season.
The Gators actually started out the Mullen era strong in close games. Florida won its first five one-possession games and six of its first seven. It started with an emotionally charged 13-6 win over Mississippi State. It was the first trip back to Starkville for Dan Mullen. He was coaching against a team full of players he had recruited, developed, and invested time in. The crowd was less than hospitable to their former head coach but the Gators pulled it out.
A few weeks later Florida edged out LSU 27-19 and added one more close win over South Carolina, 35-31. The following season Florida beat Miami and Kentucky in one-possession games before a close loss to Georgia, 24-17. They closed out the 2019 season with a 36-28 win over Virginia in the Orange Bowl, which currently stands as Florida’s last win in a one-possession game.
The Gators lost in College Station 41-38. A fumble with 3:48 left in a tied game led to the Aggies kicking a 47-yard field goal. The next game was a rescheduled contest with LSU, and you know the story there. Fog. A shoe. A Tiger field goal and a missed Gator field goal proved to be the difference. Florida was six points short against Alabama the following week in the SEC Championship and then just two points short of the Tide nine months later. Kentucky, LSU again, and Missouri on Saturday night finish off the streak.
“We’ve got to find a way to make that one more play for the Gator Nation right there. That would be a seven-game swing, which would be a pretty big swing right there, you know over the last couple of years.”
