GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- It was not the sharp performance Dan Mullen wanted. The Gators head coach saw his side only score three points in the first quarter, only going into the break up by 17.

It's safe to say, Mullen let his team know he was not happy with their effort at halftime.

"I don't know that it was a super friendly halftime to be honest with you," Mullen told reporters after the game.

"He just said that we need to play to our standard and not to anybody elses," said defensive lineman Kyree Campbell.

"He wanted to see us execute better and just see us play better," added wide receiver Van Jefferson. "So he came in there and he gave us a good talk and we came out in the second half and were stronger.”

"We should have way more points than we had in the first half," Feleipe Franks said. "We have a lot of room to improve."

A lot of Florida's problems came when they could not generate enough push to establish the run game.

However, Mullen did not want to put the blame all on the offensive line - actually the head coach repeatedly said the team put up 231 yards on the ground while only giving up two sacks in two games.

"We didn't have the ball much. We've got to start running more plays," said Mullen. "John (Hevesy) made a couple adjustments with them and I think the one thing -- they were a little slower on the adjustments than I'd like them to be, you know what I mean? Picking up the adjustments. Once we did start to pick up the adjustments we did well again.

" I mean we're teaching. Hey, I don't know if there's a position that doesn't need to get better."

Mullen has a point. Several positions on Florida's roster are a work in progress.

The Gators head coach is hoping they continue to live up to the Gator Standard on every rep, playing with the same effort wether they play an in-stare rivals or a non-Power 5 opponent.

"We have to take some big steps forward before next week, we get into conference," Mullen said. "You have to understand human nature, which is these guys are 18- to 22-years-old, it’s hard to peak and motivate yourself.

"The big challenge is, are we giving maximum effort every single day? These guys, we’re a little more talented than they were (tonight). They’re really well coached, they did an excellent job, their kids played really hard, we just have a little bit more talent, and our guys know that. But it’s got to really crank up about 10 notches getting into conference play."