A fired-up Dan Mullen had to be dragged from the field by the rim of his khaki pants.
Cornerback C.J. McWilliams had been called on a questionable pass-interference penalty on a Georgia third and goal at the 1-yard line, and the Gators coach went charging at the official with a vengeance.
The third-quarter outburst was one of many moments that stood out in the Gators’ eventful 36-17 loss to Georgia on Saturday.
Here are three more quirky happenings from the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party:
IMPORTANT: Keep knees covered
McWilliams lined up awaiting the snap as the play clock approached zero.
The high-pitched ring of a whistle halted play as the official ran onto the field to assess McWilliams a delay-of-game penalty.
The flag was met with a chorus of groans from the orange and blue half of TIAA Bank Field’s bleachers. But stadium-wide confusion ensued after the explanation for the call was announced.
McWilliams was flagged a uniform violation.
According to the NCAA’s new uniform guidelines, it is now mandatory that a player’s pants have pads that cover the entire knee.
And McWilliams violated the rule by taking the field with his white uniform pants curled just below his thighs, leaving his knees exposed.
The bizarre penalty turned a third and three for Georgia into a first and goal.
The Gators forced the Bulldogs to settle for a field goal, but it increased Florida’s first-quarter deficit to 10.
The skycam incident
Punter Tommy Townsend entered the game on fourth-and-eight to punt.
His booming kick sent the ball cruising so high into the air it went careened off the wire of the CBS floating skycam on its way back to the ground.
It took several minutes for the referees to figure out what happened, and when they did, Townsend was forced to redo the punt.
The peculiarity of the second-quarter fiasco increased as it only ended up making a yard’s difference after Townsend’s retry.
The redshirt junior’s first kick had gone 51 yards and was downed at the UGA 21-yard line. His second punt went 71 yards and sent the ball bouncing into the endzone for a touchback thus moving the Bulldogs to their own 20.
Emory Jones in at QB
Mullen’s decision to play freshman quarterback Emory Jones was perhaps the most egregious use of irony of the game.
The Gators had spent the entire week preparing to face two quarterbacks in starting sophomore Jake Fromm and freshman Justin Fields.
Fields has taken the field in every game this season, and the assumption heading into Saturday’s game was that it’d be no different against the Gators.
But Fields didn’t take one snap in Georgia’s win on Saturday, likely because Fromm played so well. He finished 17-for-24 passing with 240 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
The 6-foot-2, 199-pound Jones did see the field a couple times in place of the struggling Feleipe Franks.
Jones was primarily used as a runner and managed 12 yards on four attempts.
He had a fumble during the second quarter but jumped on top of the ball. Jones was trying to pitch the ball to running back Jordan Scarlett in the backfield, and UGA defensive end Malik Herring knocked the ball out of Jones’ hand while his arm was still stretched out.
The freshman from LaGrange, Georgia, showed some confidence as well. During the fourth quarter, he saw Van Jefferson make a break down the field and delivered the ball right on target. It looked like it’d be a touchdown catch for Jefferson had UGA defensive back Tyson Campbell not committed pass interference.
Jones didn’t put up huge numbers on Saturday, but he provided a sneak peek at what can be expected in the future and took the spotlight away from Georgia freshman quarterback Justin Fields, who had gotten the attention heading in.
“I guess the talk all week was one of the freshman quarterbacks was going to be in the game a lot,” Mullen said. “That was true, it was just ours.”
Follow Alanis Thames on Twitter @alanisthames or contact her at athames@alligator.org.
Quarterback Emory Jones (right) has only two games of leeway remaining on his freshman redshirt.
