Josh Heupel apologizes to Billy Napier over timeout, final sequence 

Saturday was a momentous day in The Swap as the Florida Gators were able to secure their first signature SEC win under head coach Billy Napier with a 29-16 win over No. 11 ranked Tennessee.

Victory formation is often called the best formation in football, representing a team having the win in hand and kneeling out the clock on their way to a victory. But it wasn’t so glorious on Saturday night in Gainesville.

Down 13 points with nine seconds remaining in the game, Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel called a timeout as fourth down approached for the Gators’ offense just as the stadium and sideline started to celebrate their win.

Instead, the Gators had to kneel the ball one last time, and as their quarterback Graham Mertz took a knee after letting some time expire, he took an illegal hit from a Tennessee player that resulted in a bench-clearing, physical altercation between the two teams to end the night.

The night surely didn’t end on the note that either team had imagined, and after the game footage surfaced of Heupel apologizing to Napier for his role in the end-of-game shenanigans.

Josh Heupel apologizes to Billy Napier as they shake hands after #Gators 29-16 win.#Vols had to come back out of the locker room to take a knee on final play of the game. Tennessee had used their final timeout before Florida's fourth down kneel down that sparked shoving match pic.twitter.com/EBQFVtdzdj

— Daren Stoltzfus WESH (@DarenStoltzfus) September 17, 2023

Calling a timeout when a victory clearly seems out of grasp is strange, and its influence on the scuffle between the two teams is hard to determine. But after the game, Heupel did explain his reasoning behind the decision and his perspective on the situation.

“That sequence right there, we’re trying to get the ball back, right,” Heupel said. “Trying to take a shot at the endzone. I don’t know if we’re gonna have enough time for an onside and maybe get it and get a shot back, but you’re trying to finish and compete the right way. He’s dancing around. Do you want the targeting? Obviously not, but the guy’s dancing around, so you’ve got to go tackle the guy too. So, do we want to be composed in that situation and all situations? Absolutely.”

Ugly ending leads to fight in Florida vs Tennessee

Saturday night was a big night for Florida and Billy Napier. The Gators, two weeks removed from a loss to Utah, faced a major opportunity when No. 11 Tennessee came to Gainesville with its high-powered offense in tow.

UF dominated the first half, and that carried over into the second half as the Gators pulled off the 29-16 upset. However, the final seconds of the game saw a fight break out after Josh Heupel called his final timeout. Frustrations were running high, and officials had to break up the Florida and Tennessee players.

It was an ugly ending to a big night for the Gators.

pic.twitter.com/pTNnZu5M6u

— wow that was crazy (@CowardlyDoggo) September 17, 2023

On3’s Nick Schultz and Dan Morrison contributed to this report