Sunday, 3 a.m.
Behind him are losses to Alabama and Kentucky. Ahead of him are challenges against LSU and Georgia.
Given all of that, you might think that a 42-0 victory would make University of Florida coach Dan Mullen smile.
You'd be wrong.
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Despite a huge win over the outmanned Commodores, Mullen was less than satisfied with the performance of the 20th-ranked Gators, who were sluggish in the first half and weren't as sharp as Mullen would have liked.
"Awful," Mullen's halftime assessment of his defense was.
“I love our team. I love the attitude of our team,” Mullen said. “We’ve got to do a better job coaching. It’s our job to kind of make sure that the intensity level every snap of the game is where it needs to be at.”
Quarterback Emory Jones threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns for the Gators.
“All quarterbacks have a learning curve,” Mullen said. “That’s why there’s development that goes into it. I do think Anthony works his tail off, has a great approach in what he’s doing. He’s going to continue to improve.”
Before the Gators visit LSU on Saturday (noon kickoff), Mullen wants to see his team with more focus.
Making sure that we have crossed every ‘T’, dotted every ‘I,’ our execution is exact ... [We’re] looking at it individually on every snap of the game,” Mullen said. “Are we playing at the level we need to play at with the intensity we need to play at? I don’t know that we did that for the first half as a whole.”
FSU 35, North Carolina 25: Well, look at who has a winning streak?
Mike Norvell's FSU Seminoles upset North Carolina Sunday behind a nice game by quarterback Jordan Travis. Travis threw for 145 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
FSU was 3-6 in Norvell's first season a year ago and started 0-4 this year.
“These guys, the way that they’re investing, the things they’re pouring into this program," Norvell said, "I’m just so very proud of them.
“I really do believe this is a new team. The way they’re working on the field, off the field, and in the weight room. They believe. They believe in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. We want these guys to play to the best of their ability.”
Novell was pleased with Travis.
“I thought he played exceptionally with his eyes... All in all, he’s competing at a very high level. I’m excited about his continued development and what he brings to this offense.”
FSU is off next week, then plays against UMass.