It's one thing when Florida loses because it just didn't make the plays it needed to make. And the Gators will look back on their loss to Georgia and count up multiple plays they would like back that could have flipped the script in Jacksonville.
But it's another thing when Florida loses, and it did make the play it needed to make, only for replay officials to have zero clue what they are looking at.
J. Michael Studivant has a huge catch taken away
On a 3rd and 4 play in the 4th quarter, DJ Lagway rolled out on a broken play and launched the ball downfield to a wide open Sturdivant, who slipped coming back to the ball, and the pass was called incomplete.
This was a catch. I’ll stand on this till I die, pic.twitter.com/AbMLlejkIx
— Florida Gators 🐊🔥 (@gatorsszn) November 1, 2025
Sturdivant came up in real time, claiming he had caught it, and Gators fans in the stadium roared once they caught their first glimpse of the replay.
The review dragged on, and officials ended up upholding the original call of incomplete.
Lovely.
It really is a mystery what replay officials are looking at sometimes. It's understandable how the call was missed live, but it's obvious that Sturdivant had his arms under the ball, the ball is cradled into his forearms, and at no point do you get a clear look at the ball hitting the ground.
But because there wasn't a 4K still shot of the play, they did what they also do and just went "Screw it, play upheld."
Florida would go for it on 4th down, fail, and not get the ball back for the rest of the game.
The real culprit
Now, if we are being honest, the real culprit of this play is the city of Jacksonville. For as much money as they throw at this game and for as much as Florida and Georgia insist on having this game in Jacksonville instead of home campuses, they continue to have a substandard playing surface year in and year out.
Players were slipping the entire game, and that was the case as Sturdivant went back to get the ball. If he doesn't slip, he might have had a touchdown.
So it's a play that will go down as a double whammy in Gators lore as Florida fell to Georgia 24-20.