The college football regular season is exciting again, with perennial conference doormats like the Vanderbilt Commodores finding great success on the field.
There were plenty of chaotic situations in the tight race this fall, which fueled drama throughout Week 14. Matt Baker of The Athletic recently listed the 10 most chaotic moments of the 2025 season, including two that centered around the Florida Gators.
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On the one hand, the first entry is a negative, foretelling the story of how this season will unfold in Gainesville. On the other hand, the orange and blue are also a source of pain for Southeastern Conference schools. Let’s see which is which.
Florida State vs. USF: Bull spitting
“With two minutes left in the game and the Gators leading South Florida by one point, Florida defensive lineman Brendan Bate received an unsportsmanlike penalty for spitting at a Bulls offensive lineman. The 15 free yards set up Nico Grammatica’s 20-yard field goal,” Baker began.
“The home loss to the in-state Five was the beginning of the end of Billy Napier’s tenure at Florida State; he was fired a month and a half later. It was also a big moment for USF head coach Alex Golesh, who began his third year with back-to-back wins over ranked teams (his Bulls beat Boise State in Week 1). Auburn hired Golesh the day after the regular season ended.”
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To be fair, given how the rest of the season played out, Napier was destined to fail anyway, and USF’s loss ostensibly accelerated that process.
“The coaching ripples became even bigger when Florida poached Tulane’s Jon Sumrall to replace Napier and USF hired Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline. That means the spat affected both CFP participants and may have affected the Buckeyes’ offensive preparation in their Big Ten title loss to Indiana.”
Chaos indeed.
Florida vs Archie Manning
The good news is that the Gators were also recognized for one of their more positive results this fall: a midseason win over the Texas Longhorns in the Everglades.
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“While Texas tried to blame its lack of CFP on a disastrous Week 1 loss to Ohio State, committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the Longhorns’ 29-21 loss to Florida State was “what’s holding them back.” One play could change that: Archie Manning’s third-and-long pass to a wide-open Emmett Mosley V late in the first half,” Baker noted.
“The incompletion resulted in a fourth down, and the Gators were blocked on a punt to secure a safety and take a 19-7 lead. Since Manning was hit on the throw, it’s hard to blame him too much. But the completion meant a touchdown, putting Florida’s lead The lead was cut to 17-14, and from what we heard, the deep touchdown pass in this situation may have boosted Manning’s confidence and may have contrasted with the criticism surrounding his performance.”
Instead, the orange and blue defended their turf last fall with just the second of four wins.
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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators College Football Chaos Entry: Bull Spit, Arch Manning
