Mizzou, Florida players suspended by SEC for halftime brawl; Gators coach fined
After a halftime brawl overshadowed the Missouri Tigers’ 41-17 loss to the Florida Gators last Saturday, the Southeastern Conference issued fines and suspensions Monday to penalize those involved in the melee.
Florida coach Dan Mullen was fined $25,000 for violating SEC bylaws. Three Mizzou players, linebacker Chad Bailey, offensive lineman Dylan Spencer and defensive lineman Markell Utsey, were issued half-game suspensions for fighting. Mizzou is off this week, so they will serve their suspensions during the first half of the Nov. 14 home game against Georgia, which will kick off at 11 a.m.
“There is no place in college football for the kind of incident that took place at halftime of the Missouri at Florida game Saturday night,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “Everyone involved is responsible for meeting sportsmanship standards throughout each game.
“Running on the field to confront a game official, the gathering of teams in an on-field confrontation and student-athletes throwing punches are all disappointing at any time, but even more so as we work to support healthy competition during a pandemic.”
Three players were ejected Saturday by referees after the brawl: Mizzou’s Tre Williams for a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct foul, and Florida’s Antwuan Powell and Zach Carter for fighting.
SEC bylaws state that any player ejected for fighting carry an automatic half-game suspension for the team’s following game. That means the Gators will be without Powell and Carter for the first half of their game against Georgia on Nov. 7. Williams, though, will not serve a suspension because he was not penalized for fighting.
The halftime fight sparked when Mizzou’s Trajan Jeffcoat knocked Florida quarterback Kyle Trask to the ground on an apparent late hit. On replay, Mullen appeared to run toward midfield to confront an official as players from both teams met at midfield. It quickly escalated from there as punches were thrown from both sides.
MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz said he was unsure what happened in the aftermath of the play because he had his eyes on the ball. After the game, Drinkwitz noted he saw some Florida coaches were yelling on the MU sideline yelling, thought he said he didn’t know why they were shouting.
Drinkwitz and Mullen met after the altercation to talk it out, though Drinkwitz said the conversation wasn’t exactly “pleasant” in his postgame comments.
Florida and Missouri issued a joint statement Sunday addressing the melee. Both Mullen and Drinkwitz said following the game they were proud of their teams for playing a clean second half.
“The action at the end of the first half of last night’s game do not reflect the values of our football program or university,” the joint statement read. “We are committed to healthy competition and good sportsmanship. The clean play without incident in the second half is how we expect to represent both institutions and the SEC. We believe both programs will use this moment to learn from so that future incidents like this do not happen.”
Mizzou fell flat coming out of halftime, which Drinkwitz pointed out and blamed himself and the coaching staff. While Florida went on a long touchdown drive out of the break, the Tigers responded with a three-and-out. The Gators only added to their lead after that, pulling away from Mizzou.
“We lost our composure,” Drinkwitz said after the game. “Tried to get everybody settled down, and obviously we didn’t do that. … Gotta do a better job getting our team under control and adjusting for halftime.”