LSU Upset Florida Thanks To The Gators Getting A 15-Yard Penalty For Throwing A Shoe

LSU and Florida met on Saturday night in a makeup of a game postponed from earlier in the season due to COVID-19, and with the Gators locked into the SEC Championship game and the Tigers backing up a title run with one of the worst seasons in recent memory in Baton Rouge, few expected this game to get too weird.

However, in the fog in Gainesville, that was exactly what happened as the two teams were tied at 34-34 with just over two minutes to play following a Florida field goal drive. Overtime or a Florida walkoff win looked like the most likely possibilities as with 1:51 to play, the Tigers were stopped on third down and seemed in need of a punt. However, defensive back Marco Wilson decided it’d be a good idea to pick up the LSU player’s shoe and huck it downfield, which was not subtle at all and drew a flag for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

That resulted in one of the funniest penalty calls from a referee that you’ll ever see.

https://twitter.com/NotScTop10plays/status/1337966646787502081

Naturally, following the penalty, LSU, suddenly blessed with new life, pushed the ball into Florida territory and set Cade York up with a 57-yard field goal attempt. LSU was without timeouts and was going to need to run a scramble drill to get the kick team onto the field and get the field goal attempt off before the clock went off, but the Gators called timeout with 21 seconds left to give them a chance to answer a make — or have great field position on a miss. York came out and banged it through with no trouble.

Florida would drive it to the LSU 34 and set up their own game-tying attempt, but Evan McPherson just pulled the 51-yard kick wide left by inches, giving the Tigers a rather stunning upset win and taking the Gators out of playoff contention.

To add to the insult of losing at home just before the SEC Championship game, the Gators got to see LSU’s kicker taunt them on their home field with a Gator Chomp.