Dan Mullen Said Florida Could Have Opted Out of Cotton Bowl Due to Depleted Roster

Florida suffered a 55–20 blowout loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Following

Florida's 55–20 blowout loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, coach Dan Mullen said the Gators could have skipped the game due to the number of players available to play.

"With the number of people that were out for the game, we were under numbers actually," Mullen said, via ESPN. "We had the numbers to not play the game."

Despite their depleted roster, the team still desired to compete in the top-10 matchup to gain experience.

"I give our guys credit. ...Our young guys wanted to go play in that game, and they wanted to get that experience and wanted to be on that stage."

Mullen estimated Tuesday that he would have 60 scholarship players available. This season, the SEC set a minimum mark of 53 scholarship players for game participation, but teams could choose to play if they didn't reach the threshold. The league also established minimums for three positions: quarterbacks (one), defensive linemen (four) and offensive linemen (seven).

Mullen did not say if Florida fell below the minimum in those positions. 

However, the Gators were missing star tight end Kyle Pitts and wide receivers Jacob Copeland, Trevon Grimes and Kadarious Toney. Grimes, Pitts and Toney opted out of the game to prepare for the NFL draft, while Copeland tested positive for COVID-19. 

Quarterback Kyle Trask struggled heavily without his top four pass-catchers. The Heisman Trophy finalist threw interceptions on the team's first three drives and didn’t play after the opening drive of the second half when the Gators were down 31–13.

Sophomore quarterback Emory Jones saw significant playing time and had a one-yard keeper for Florida's first touchdown midway through the second quarter.

Trask finished 16 of 28 for 158 yards, while Jones was 8 of 16 for 86 yards.

"That wasn't the 2020 football team that you saw," Mullen said of Florida's performance. "There were 25 guys missing off the 2020 football team out there tonight. That was kind of a kick-start for us for the future, an opportunity for the young guys to play."

He added: "The last game the 2020 team played was 11 days ago [in the SEC championship]."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.