Gators fans have every right to feel screwed over after brutal missed call against Georgia

It’s ridiculous that the Gators lost this game.

Tyler Forness — NFL & College Football News Writer
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Florida Gators wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant makes a catch that was ruled incomplete by the officials in the fourth quarter of the 24-20 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs on November 1st, 2025 at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida.
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The Florida Gators lost 24-20 to the Georgia Bulldogs in Jacksonville on Saturday, and it certainly felt like they got screwed over.

Under interim head coach Billy Gonzales, it felt like the Gators were back. In the fourth quarter, they were up three and had a fourth and one in Bulldogs territory to extend the drive and potentially go up two scores. They failed to make the play to extend the drive, but there was still plenty of game left.

After Chauncey Bowers ran for a touchdown on the ensuing drive, the Gators had four minutes to take the lead back, and one play will live in series infamy.

J. Michael Sturdivant gets screwed by SEC officials on missed catch call

The situation is pretty clear. The Gators need four yards to extend the drive on third down, and quarterback DJ Lagway is playing as well as he has all season. There isn’t anyone open initially, so he rolls to his left and finds a streaking J. Michael Sturdivant behind the Bulldogs’ defense. Lagway throws a rope on the run against the grain, but it comes up a bit short. It’s also where the controversy comes into play.

You can see the ball hit Sturdivant’s forearm and immediately turn so it’s perpendicular to his arms, making it look like he’s catching a melon. It was called incomplete on the field, which his understandable. Those are really difficult to see in real time. However, they didn’t overturn the play like they should have.

On the subsequent fourth down, Lagway’s pass was batted down at the catchpoint, and the Bulldogs ran the clock out. It was a game-changing call that severely impacted the Gators’ chances to win the game, as they would have been two yards away from the red zone.

It’s also not the first time this season that calls have been so blatantly for the Bulldogs. Go ask the Auburn Tigers and head coach Hugh Freeze. They had so many missed calls on them that an official was banned from calling SEC games after the play

This wasn’t the reason why the Gators lost the game, but the correct call certainly would have given them a chance to win it.

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