Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with Billy Gonzales’ postgame comments on the play.
Florida football appeared ready to pick up a massive upset victory over No. 5 Georgia on Saturday, Nov. 1 late in the fourth quarter, when quarterback DJ Lagway found a wide-open J. Michael Sturdivant down the field.
Sturdivant had to double back to a Lagway deep pass, and appeared to get his arms underneath the ball for a deep completion on third down. However, officials on the field at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida ruled the pass from Lagway — which would have brought the Gators to the Georgia 21-yard line — hit the turf.
The call was upheld after an official review.
“Joe, I really don’t. You cannot see the tip of the ball coming into his hands (from the view). It looks like the ball is coming down first. … It is sideways in his hands,” said ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin on the broadcast. “It almost looks like the ball hit the ground in between but again, you cannot assume. You can only go with what you can tell and the ruling on the field is incomplete. I’m not sure how you overturn it.”
Color analyst Jordan Rodgers disagreed with Austin, saying he believed it was a catch from Sturdivant. When asked about the play on ESPN’s postgame show, ESPN’s Joey Galloway, a former wide receiver at Ohio State, said it wasn’t.
Asked whether it was a catch following the game, coach Billy Gonzales simply said “no” to reporters in Jacksonville.
One play later, the Gators turned the ball over on downs as Georgia Elis Robinson broke up a Lagway pass to Eugene Wilson III. It marked the second consecutive drive the Gators ended a drive with a turnover on downs after Trey Smack hit a 54-yard field goal to put Florida up 20-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Florida never saw the ball again, as Georgia ran out the final 3:13 of game clock to hand the Gators their fifth consecutive loss to the Bulldogs.
That wasn’t the only play that came under scrutiny in the game, as officials overturned a called fumble on the field late in the first half, ruling instead that Stockton threw an incomplete pass. Georgia later kicked a field goal before halftime to tie the score at 10-10.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Did Florida’s J. Michael Sturdivant catch deep ball in loss to Georgia?
Reporting by John Leuzzi, USA TODAY NETWORK / The Gainesville Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
