ATLANTA — Much like Steve Spurrier from two decades ago, current Florida football coach Dan Mullen rarely passes on a chance to troll SEC rivals.
Especially UGA.
Earlier in the month, Mullen congratulated Georgia for adding Florida State to future schedules, likening the move to playing "catchup" with Florida (the Gators and Seminoles meet every November).
And last week, Mullen's love of high jinks, witty digs and cryptic messages was on full display during the Gators' spring game.
Before the scrimmage, Mullen essentially called his shot, declaring the announced attendance figure at Florida Field would have special meaning to Georgia fans.
"I know this: I have fudged it before. Well like, not like ridiculously, but for like silly stuff," Mullen said prior to the spring game. "Maybe like the attendance matches the score of a certain game or something like that during the season. We've done that type of stuff before."
The game's alleged take: A crowd of 39,476 (capacity: 88,548).
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How does a five-figure number with no zeroes qualify as a crafty burn on the Bulldogs?
It took roughly 48 hours after Saturday's exhibition, but Florida's Reddit site might have arrived at the subtle answer:
39 ... as in 39 years have elapsed since Georgia last won the national championship in football.
Conversely, Florida has collected three consensus national crowns in a 23-year-span (1996, 2006, 2008).
476 ... as in the Dawgs have endured 476 consecutive games (including a pair of College Football Playoff clashes) without claiming the national title.
Mullen's fun-with-numbers trash talk represents a strong reason why we love the give-and-take nature of college football:
a) In one respect, UGA fans cannot dispute the accuracy of Mullen's attendance-based taunt.
b) On the flip side ... Georgia (back-to-back SEC East titles) has soundly whipped Florida by a combined score of 78-24 over the last two seasons, including the 36-17 victory against Mullen's Gators last October.
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