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Florida defender Jamari Lyons ejected vs. Florida State for spitting

Wade-Peeryby:Wade Peery•11/25/23
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Jamari Lyons/Twitter

Florida defensive tackle Jamari Lyons was ejected late in the second quarter of Saturday night’s rivalry game between the Gators and the Florida State Seminoles. He was ejected for spitting on an FSU player.

Speaking with ESPN’s Holly Rowe briefly at halftime, Gators head coach Billy Napier made clear he’s not going to tolerate those sort of extracurriculars. Plus, holding a 12-7 lead at the break, Napier knows any foolishness could cost the Gators.

“Those things are unacceptable. No question. It’s a rivalry, we all understand that, but we need to play between the whistles, do things with class. And look, we know we don’t like them, and they don’t like us, but we need to keep our composure,” Napier said.

Once Lyons left the game, it immediately sparked the FSU offense. The Seminoles drove down the field and scored a touchdown, cutting the Florida lead to 12-7. The Florida defense was exceptional in the first half, limiting the ‘Noles to just 85 total yards of offense.

Florida played very impressive in the first half

Florida also got some very effective play from backup quarterback Max Brown, who completed seven of his ten passes for 74 yards. The Gators’ rushing attack was gashing the Seminole defense for much of the first half, piling up 110 total rushing yards. Running back Montrell Johnson, Jr. had 10 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Florida’s Trevor Etienne also had nine carries for 42 yards in the opening half.

While the Gators battled on Saturday, they fell short, losing 24-15 to the Seminoles. Florida State outscored Florida 17-3 after halftime. They tacked on 10 points in the fourth quarter. The 26-yard touchdown run by running back Trey Benson was essentially the play that put the game away for good. It put FSU up 24-15 with 2:48 remaining.

Florida State’s Tate Rodemaker, the second-string quarterback now starting with star Jordan Travis out for the rest of the season, went down for a period after vicious hit from a pair of Florida defenders resulted in targeting in the fourth quarter.

Rodemaker re-entered the game after being absent for a few plays. Third-string quarterback Brock Glenn briefly entered the game for the Seminoles.

Targeting was called and confirmed on the play, resulting in cornerback Jaydon Hill being ejected. Safety Bryce Thornton was also in on the hit. Rodemaker was scrambling on a 3rd and 14 and began to slide short of the marker when the pair of Florida defenders flew in and delivered the crushing blow.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.