Muschamp talks controversial non-fumble in second half

With South Carolina up comfortably and cruising on defense in the third quarter, one of the weirdest plays of the game happened and ultimately turned the tide of the Gators’ drive and ultimately the game.

Feliepe Franks had a snap go over his head and, after recovering the loose ball, fired it to a receiver, who accidentally tipped it up to a waiting Gators’ player, who caught it for the first down.

Instead of being forced to punt Florida had a fresh set of downs and would later score on the drive to cut into the Gamecocks’ 31-14 lead before storming back to score 21 unanswered points in a 35-31 win.

“That momentum changed,” Brunson said of the play. “That gave them the mindset that they’re still in it.”

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But the weirdest part of the play happened after the whistle.

After the player was stopped, referees quickly called Trevon Grimes down but Jaycee Horn stripped the ball and acted as if it was a fumble.

T.J. Brunson, who was on the field for the play, said the freshman defensive back thought he forced a turnover that would give the Gamecocks (5-4, 4-4 SEC) back the momentum but the Gators maintained possession of the ball.

Will Muschamp said postgame that even though the play didn’t stop afterwards, the officials reviewed the play, said it wasn’t a fumble and the Gamecock coaches opted to not call a timeout to have the referees review it longer.

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“The whistle had blown, but they review every play in the box. We had people reviewing. It’s harder on the road because you don’t get the same looks. In that situation, they’re reviewing every play. I had communication with the official on the field that the play is being reviewed and they didn’t stop play. if it was a question, they would have stopped play,” he said. “We’re not going to waste a timeout at that time in the game to try and delay more time for them to look at it.”

The Gators scored six plays later, not facing a third down the rest of the drive. Lamical Perine punched the ball in from 18 yards out with the fluky third-down catch being essentially the catalyst for it.

“It kept the drive alive. It was a critical third down; they’re trying to answer off a score," Muschamp said. "I don’t know if it was a turning point. We left them on the field. We had an opportunity to get off the field, but our guys have handled that situation before.”

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The Gamecocks, after jumping out to a 17-point lead, would surrender 21 unanswered points to the Florida offense that struggled last weekend against Missouri.

The Gators put up 338 yards in the second half, 238 of those coming on the ground.

Franks went 8-for-11 with a touchdown pass in the second half, the one to Perine, but none more important against the Gamecock defense than the batted ball on third down.

“He just made something happen. it was a freak catch, whatever that was,” Brunson said. “Whether it should have been a dead play, that guy made something happen.”