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SEC officials uphold controversial call against Florida vs. Georgia

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp11/01/25
Florida Gators
A Florida Gators flag flies during a game between Florida and Florida State on Nov. 25, 2022. (Icon Sportswire / Getty Images)

A wild heave downfield from Florida quarterback DJ Lagway toward receiver J. Michael Sturdivant was ruled incomplete late in the game against Georgia. Various camera angles made it look like a potential catch, and the play went to replay review.

After viewing it for about a minute, replay officials determined there wasn’t enough to overturn it, ruling the call on the field upheld. The throw came on third down, and Florida would turn it over on downs one play later, giving Georgia the ball back with a 24-20 lead and 3:13 remaining in the game.

You can view the potentially controversial call below. The broadcast crew commented on it quite a bit.

“You can’t see if the tip of the ball hit between his hands,” rules expert Matt Austin said on the broadcast. “It looks like the ball’s coming down point first. When we get a nice, clean view it’s sideways in his hands. It almost feels like the ball had to have hit the ground in between. But again, you can’t assume. You can only go with what you can tell. The ruling on the field is incomplete, so I’m not sure how you overturn it.”

The rest of the ABC broadcast crew voiced its opinions on the call, too. Joe Tessitore was relatively neutral on things, while Jordan Rodgers thought it should have been ruled a catch for Florida.

“One thing I want to point out, it looks like the nose of the ball hits his left forearm and then goes perpendicular to his arm, so sideways and then bounces up,” Rodgers said. “It looks like a catch to me, Tess, I don’t know. It’s so close.”

Austin once again chimed in on the call, which eventually went against Florida on replay, too. It was a decisive moment in the game.

“It’s got to be clear and obvious to overturn the call on the field,” Austin said. “I just don’t see that here. And from that view it looks like it got between his hands. I just think there’s too much uncertainty.”