Amid struggles, Florida fires coach Mullen
Florida fired coach Dan Mullen on Sunday, a day after his sixth loss in nine games, two months after the Gators went toe to toe with defending national champion Alabama and a year after they had a chance to make the College Football Playoff.
Mullen’s stunning downfall and not-so-surprising departure ends a tumultuous two seasons that included mounting losses, numerous public relation missteps, NCAA sanctions and a victory against lower-division Samford that didn’t seem like much for Gators fans to celebrate.
Mullen finished 34-15 over four seasons at Florida that included a trip to the SEC championship game last year and three New Year’s Six bowls.
His final game was a 24-23 loss in overtime at Missouri that spotlighted
Florida’s flaws: inconsistent quarterback play, a porous offensive line, a lack of playmakers on both sides of the ball and an inability to win close games. The Gators (5-6) have dropped seven consecutive one-possession games, all in the last two seasons.
Florida hosts rival Florida State (5-6) on Saturday, with the winner becoming bowl eligible. They’ll do so without Mullen, who also served as the team’s offensive coordinator and play-caller.
Athletic director Scott Stricklin wanted to give Mullen every chance to turn things around — especially since the team was ranked sixth in the CFP standings just a year ago. He even rewarded Mullen with a raise and a three-year contract extension in the offseason — but it became clear Mullen was losing support of top administrators, key boosters and even the program’s most loyal fans.
Florida has lost nine of its last 11 games against Power Five opponents, including four straight. UTAH 38, OREGON 7 >> Britain Covey returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the first half, giving Utah 14 points in 27 seconds and a 28-0 lead, and the No. 24 Utes ended No. 4 Oregon’s College Football Playoff hopes with a home victory Saturday night.
Tavion Thomas ran for 94 yards and three touchdowns to help the Utes (8-3, 7-1 Pac-12) wrap up the Pac12 South title and a spot in the conference championship game. Utah has won four in a row.
Anthony Brown threw for 231 yards and a TD for Oregon (9-2, 6-2), which rushed for 63 yards and had 294 yards of offense.
A 4-yard scoring run by Thomas put Utah ahead 21-0 with 27 seconds left in the half.
The Utes forced an Oregon punt 16 seconds later, and Covey returned it for the TD.
OHIO STATE UP TO NO. 2 >> Ohio State is No. 2 in The Associated Press poll, surging three spots past No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Cincinnati in a close vote.
Georgia is a unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the seventh consecutive week, but for the second week in a row, No. 2 has changed.
Alabama slipped past Cincinnati last week and then Ohio State leapfrogged them both after routing Michigan State 56-7 on Saturday. The Buckeyes received 1,434 points from the media panel. The Crimson Tide had 1,423 and the Bearcats got 1,416.
Notre Dame is up to a season-high No. 5 and Michigan will go into its game against Ohio State on Saturday ranked sixth
Oregon dropped from fourth to No. 11.