LOOK: Tennessee football trolls Florida, Billy Napier over game-clock meltdown
After taking the win over their rival Florida Gators, the Tennessee football social media team joked at Billy Napier’s expense. Earlier in the game during a tough defensive moment for Florida, the game officials kept the clock stopped too long during a time-out by Tennessee while discussing taking an official review of the previous play.
Tennessee had attempted a run from the one-yard line to score a touchdown and was ruled down on the field short of the goal line. As the play clock ran down on their next play, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel called a timeout to stop the game and discuss the previous play with the officials.
Meanwhile, Napier felt that the timeout was extended to give the conversation more time as he began waving his hands on the sideline to hurry up and resume play. Eventually the game’s officials made the call to review the previous touchdown try, leading to a major outburst by the Florida coach on the sidelines as three coaches held him back.
Tennessee used the moment to take a shot at their rival after the game by giving a special shout-out to the game-clock operator during the game for giving officials time instead of starting the clock.
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Tennessee trolls Billy Napier after big win
Ultimately, the play drew even more controversy during the review as Tennessee fans felt the video replay clearly showed Jabari Small cross the goal line with his helmet and shoulders — which would indicate that the football was also in the end zone. Surprisingly, to Heupel and the Volunteers fans, the officials ruled the call on the field stood as a stopped run without clear evidence of the football being in the end zone.
Despite the ruling in Florida’s favor, the outburst by Napier on the sidelines resulted in him being penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct — leading to a fresh set of downs for Tennessee and half the distance to the goal. With the ball already on the one-yard line, Tennessee had no problems pounding in the very next play for a touchdown to take a 31-21 lead.
Saturday’s rivalry matchup came down the final moments with the No. 11 Volunteers taking down the No. 20 Gators 38-33 in Knoxville after a heated game. With the game seemingly wrapped up late, Florida completed a drive for a touchdown and missed the two-point conversion that would have made it a three-point game. With only 17 seconds remaining in the game, Florida recovered their onside kick attempt and were poised for a miraculous comeback.
After getting into range for a potential Hail Mary pass, the Tennessee defense got to Anthony Richardson before he could throw — as his pass fell harmlessly into Tennessee’s hands for the interception and the win.