GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- Sunday is generally a day of reflection for Dan Mullen.

This weekend was no different.

The Gators head coach returned from Baton Rouge and watched over film, grading his players and his own play-calling performance.

"Pretty good except for the end," said Mullen about the execution of the game plan. "Those two red-zone drives. And that's on me. There's a lot that goes into it. But we've got to call better plays, we've got to get the ball into the end zone."

Florida failed to score on two red zone trips and LSU made them pay. However, for much of the game, the Gators offense managed to sustain drives and went toe-to-toe with LSU.

Mullen's side drove 75 yards for touchdowns four times - three of those with the Gators recording at least 11 plays. It was an effective game plan to combat LSU's quick strike offense.

“That was kind of the plan going in,” Mullen said. “We wanted to try to control the tempo of the game, and I thought we were able to do that a little bit and limit the number of offensive plays they had.”

“I think we showed a lot of good signs of being able to execute and play pretty solid in a hostile environment,” quarterback Kyle Trask said. “That gives us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

Thats good news for a team and offense set to enter their most crucial part of the schedule. The Gators will face four SEC East teams for a chance to secure a spot in the SEC Championship game.

A lot of the offense's success came on the Trask's shoulder.

Much was made about the Texan and his lack of experience in hostile environments prior to Saturday. The redshirt junior, however, was as cool and collected as the Heisman candidate on the other side.

“I kind of expected for him to perform the way he performed and act the way he acted,” wide receiver Josh Hammond said. “He definitely gets fired up for live situations. It can be at practice, in scrimmages or it can be game day; he gets fired up for those things. He prepares very well. I knew he would be prepared for the environment and any situation he is placed in.”

Trask threw for a career-high 310 yards and three touchdowns, finishing 23-of-39 passing.

"I think it shows the preparation that he's put in," said Mullen. "I think what shows is the maturity he has and the preparation he's had over the last couple of years."

The Gators, however, allowed miscues to derail their success.

A holding penalty against Stone Forsythe negated a 27-yard catch by Lamical Perine when the game was tied 28-28; wide receivers ran wrong routes; and Trask threw a pick in the endzone with the team trailing 35-28.

Mullen points to the holding penalty as one of the main turning points of the game.

"It was a game-changing penalty 'cause we go from first-and-10 on their side of the field after they scored to go back and probably drive down and take the lead again to first-and-20 backed up way deep in our own end," said Mullen. "That was a big moment in the game. Little things that we still overcame and had the opportunity score twice that at the end to tie it or maybe go for two. We’ll never know.”

The Gators will need to shake off the disappointment and learn from these mistakes before their SEC matchup against South Carolina.

Trask showed poise when it was needed last weekend, but Hammond says his quarterback has another gear if needed.

"If we are tied at 21 and we got to get a drive, I think Kyle will more calm and poised within that moment to makes sure everybody is doing the right things and make sure our offense is going in the right direction," explained Hammond. "He handles adversity really well- whether we are high or low, he tries to stay medium and just keep everybody’s head above float and keep everybody on the same page.

"Now if we go down and score and go up 28-21 then that Kyle, the excited Kyle comes out and is ready to go. But by the time we get back on the field, he will be back calm and poised again."

"I guess that's just my personality," said Trask. "I'm just a laid back kind of person but once it's time for business, it's time for business.”

Trask may need to go that extra gear as he hopes to help his team take care of business next weekend.

"We still control our own destiny," said Trask. "South Carolina’s the biggest game of the season because it’s the next one and it’s the SEC East. We have to our best to win this one and win the rest of the season out.”