Missouri topped Florida 24-23 in overtime on Saturday afternoon in Columbia, putting the Gators on the brink of bowl ineligibility on top of what has been an alarmingly dismal midseason effort. Just two months ago, Florida came within two points of beating Alabama and looked like a challenger out of the SEC East. Now, the question might be whether coach Dan Mullen survives the season.
To add insult to injury, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz pulled off an epic troll of Mullen in the press conference following the game. Drinkwitz, entering his second season with the Tigers, pulled the hood over his head and a light saber out of his pocket on his way out of the room.
“May the force be with you,” he said with a sly grin on his face.
For the uninitiated, Drinkwitz’s jab is in reference to Mullen, who donned a Darth Vader helmet after his team’s 41-17 win over the Tigers in Gainesville last year. That game included a halftime fracas that got out of hand as the two teams went into the locker room and needed to be separated.
The loss drops Florida to 5-6 overall and 2-6 in conference play — the program’s worst conference winning percentage since 1979 — despite winning the SEC East a year ago. Mullen is squarely on the hot seat as a result of this season’s struggles and Drinkwitz twisted the knife deeper with his press conference troll.
This is the kind of pettiness that makes college football great.
