Billy Napier on suspensions from Tennessee fight: 'It's to be expected'
Florida handed Tennessee its first loss of the 2023 college football season last weekend, and a post-game brawl broke out after tensions rose during the closing seconds of the matchup.
Gators head coach Billy Napier has now addressed the fight, revealing that if the SEC didn’t punish them — he would.
“I think it’s to be expected,” Napier said, via Gators Online. “Regardless there would’ve been in-house discipline.”
After Tennessee called a late defensive timeout, Florida was forced to run one more play before the game could end. Quarterback Graham Mertz was knocked to the ground during the final kneel down and some of the Florida blockers immediately had their QB1’s back. The altercation escalated quickly from there.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was asked about the incident after the game, and said that the fact that Mertz was “dancing around,” to run out the clock and that he wanted his team to try and get the ball back, even if that game was impossible to win. Mertz was still on his feet as the clock expired, and had to be taken down one day or another — even if he was in the motion of taking a knee nine seconds after the original snap.
Still, the SEC has since released a statement on the matter which has revealed the extent of the punishment for all parties involved:
“The suspensions were determined after video review and consultation between the Southeastern Conference Office, the University of Florida and the University of Tennessee,” a statement from the SEC said.
“Offensive lineman Damieon George, offensive lineman Micah Mazzccua and tight end Dante Zanders of Florida will be suspended for the first half of the Gators’ game with Charlotte on Saturday in Gainesville. Defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott of Tennessee will be suspended for the first half of the Volunteers’ game with UTSA on Saturday in Knoxville.”
That leaves Mertz and the Florida offense down in numbers for the first 30 minutes of Saturday’s home game against Charlotte. Luckily for Tennessee as well, they’ll battle UTSA as both teams recover in numbers from the brawl against non-conference opponents.
Kickoff between the Gators and 49ers is set for 7 p.m. ET inside The Swamp on ESPN+. Florida has been slotted as a 28-point betting favorite heading into the latter half of game week, per Vegas Insider, and look to start the season a strong 3-1 before entering the bulk of SEC play the following week at Kentucky.