Florida sideline erupts after Desmond Watson's takeaway, stiff arm

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida coach Billy Napier never discourages his team from celebrating. In fact, he does the opposite.

The Gators even have a “Baller Baton” that players get on the sideline after touchdowns or turnovers.

“I always tell the players; I want the officials to warn me. I want you to celebrate with your teammates. I want the sideline energy,” Napier said. “I want you to be creative.”

Senior linebacker Ventrell Miller certainly was with his hammy-turned-griddy dance after a tackle-for-loss against South Carolina. Of course, that celebration from Miller wasn’t what drew a sideline warning against UF in the third quarter.

The flag came flying after defensive lineman Desmond Watson showed why he wears a running back number.

“That was next level stuff,” Napier said. “We got a warning, and rightfully so.”

Watson forced the second of three turnovers by the Florida defense on consecutive drives to open the second half. He stopped South Carolina’s Jaheim Bell with his right arm and then stripped the ball away for his first career forced fumble and recovery.

“Man, the guy just ripped it out of his hands,” Napier said. “And that’s a 440-pound man trying to run with that ball. Six-foot-five and a half.”

Watson spun out of the pile like a tailback in his No. 21 jersey, rumbling ahead for 8 yards. Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson was surprised to see Watson’s ball-carrying ability.

“It kind of shocked me when I saw him switching the ball and stiff-arming people,” Richardson said. “Shoutout to Des for making a big play.”

After picking up five yards, Watson switched the ball to his left hand and stiff-armed South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler. Miraculously, Rattler absorbed the contact and knocked him over. The ball came out after Watson hit the ground, but he was ruled down at the 12-yard line.

“We actually had a crease to hit it and big boy got in there with his right arm and you aren’t getting away from him. He’s huge,” Rattler said. “But hey, I tackled him, so come on (laughs). He’s probably the biggest dude in college.”

Richardson and Miller said they both gave Watson a hard time for getting tackled by Rattler. Miller was the first player to celebrate with him after the play.

“That was funny,” Miller said. “Going to the sideline I was asking him, ‘How’d you get tackled by the quarterback? You 500-something pounds.’ But it was definitely exciting for him to get the ball and see what he could do with it for a little bit.”

Watson was mobbed by teammates coming off the field, with the “whole defense” leaving the sideline according to offensive lineman O’Cyrus Torrence. He added that it was the biggest celebration from this year’s team after a big play.

“Oh man, it was the best part of the game to me,” Torrence said of Watson’s turnover. “I wish he would have scored. We would have got three flags thrown, more than just one.”

How would the players have reacted if Watson scored on the play?

“We probably would have ran into the locker room,” Richardson said with a laugh.

Des Watson with the takeaway! https://t.co/WlDwc32rqq pic.twitter.com/s6PreF3nVZ

— Zach Abolverdi (@ZachAbolverdi) November 12, 2022

Watson’s takeaway led to the first career touchdown catch by Jonathan Odom, giving the Gators a commanding four-score lead en route to a 38-6 win.

“That was a huge play,” Odom said of Watson. “You just can’t get enough of that. The best thing I’ve ever seen is when Jaydon Hill got the pick-six earlier in the year and they said that was Des.”

Fortunately, the SEC Network announcers didn’t mistake him for Lorenzo Lingard on Saturday night. While Richardson appreciated the stiff-arm from Watson, Odom thought it was below average.

“I’ll give him a six. Six out of 10,” Odom said. “I think if he would’ve just ran over him, there would’ve been no need to stiff-arm.”

Without that move, however, we wouldn’t have this icon shot of Watson, which Florida fans already photoshopped onto the Heisman Trophy and in an art museum.

“Of course they did,” Napier said jokingly when shown the pic below. “I’m proud of Des. He’s come a long way and he’s only going to get better.”