“Play better”: Dan Mullen gives brusque assessment of Florida’s first half

Dan Mullen was not happy with how his Florida Gators played in the first half against the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday — that much was clear from just his body language throughout the half and prior to his pre-halftime interview with the SEC Network’s Taylor Davis.

But in just four words, he managed to convey that frustration in a matter of seconds.

Asked about his advice to quarterbacks Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson, Mullen gave just three words,, only two of them really relevant: “Yeah, play better.”

Asked about how he’d assess Florida’s defense needing a fortuitous replay ruling that overturned a touchdown on one of the last plays in a half in which Vandy ran 50 offensive plays and tallied more than 200 yards of offense: “Awful.”

And with that, the interview was over.

The brusqueness might actually play well with fans who thought Mullen was too sanguine about Florida’s loss to Kentucky a week ago — but the more important task at hand would seemingly be to improve on the occasionally bloodless effort from the Gators in the first half of this game.

So: Yeah, play better.