Due to their involvement in a brawl that broke out after what was meant to be the final play of their Saturday night match, the Southeastern Conference punished three players from Florida and one from Tennessee.
In the first half of their game against Charlotte on Saturday in Gainesville, No. 25 Florida will be missing guard Micah Mazzccua, tight end Dante Zanders, and right tackle Damieon George. Omarr Norman-Lott, a defensive lineman, will not play in the first half of No. 23 Tennessee’s game on Saturday in Knoxville against UTSA.
Monday’s half-game sanctions were applied following a review of the video and discussions with the league office and the two colleges.
Graham Mertz, the quarterback for Florida, was slow to kneel on a fourth-and-16 play with nine seconds left in the Gators’ 29-16 victory in the Swamp, which sparked the altercation. When Mertz eventually took a knee, Tennessee defensive lineman Omari Thomas bumped into him, and Florida left tackle Austin Barber took offense.