Florida Gators Coach Dan Mullen has been fined $25,000 for charging the field and inciting a halftime brawl between his Florida Gators and visiting team, Missouri and also issued a reprimand for violating SEC by-laws governing sportsmanship.
The brawl began after Missouri’s Trajan Jeffcoat delivered a late hit to Florida’s quarterback Kyle Trask on the final play of the first half. The final play ended up being incomplete and Trask landed hard on his back where Trask’s linemen came to his defense after the play took place.
League officials found Mullen added fuel to the fire rather than extinguish a tense situation against Missouri that led to a brawl on Saturday night’s game.
“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,” stated SEC commissioner Greg Sankey
Following the altercation, Florida defensive lineman Zachary Carter and linebacker Antwuan Powell were ejected for the remainder of the game for fighting, and Missouri’s outside linebacker Tre Williams was ejected for a flagrant unsportsmanlike conduct foul.
According to NCAA Football Playing Rule 9.5.1.b., ejections for fighting carry an automatic half-game suspension for the following game, which will result in Carter and Powell serving suspensions for the first half of Florida’s game against Georgia in Jacksonville on Saturday.
Due to Florida’s ejections, a loss against Georgia on Saturday would be crucial to their standing in the SEC rankings.
