College football chaos includes Florida's Bull Spit loss, Texas win

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The college football regular season was once again an exciting one, with perennial conference doormats like the Vanderbilt Commodores finding great success on the gridiron.

Amid the intense competition that played out this fall, there were many instances of chaos that helped drive the drama over the 14 weeks of play. The Athletic's Matt Baker recently assembled his list of 10 top chaotic moments from the 2025 campaign, which included a pair of entries centered around the Florida Gators.

On one hand, the first entry is a negative one that foretold the story of how the season would unfold in Gainesville. On the other hand, the Orange and Blue was also the source of misery for a fellow Southeastern Conference school. Take a look below at which is which.

Florida vs. USF: Bull Spit

"With two minutes left and the Gators leading South Florida by a point, Florida defensive lineman Brendan Bett earned an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for spitting on a Bulls lineman. The 15 free yards helped set up Nico Gramatica’s walk-off 20-yard field goal," Baker begins.

"Losing at home to an in-state Group of 5 program was the beginning of the end of Billy Napier’s Florida tenure; he was fired a month and a half later. It was also a marquee moment for USF head coach Alex Golesh, who started his third year with back-to-back wins over ranked teams (his Bulls beat Boise State in Week 1). Auburn hired Golesh the day after the regular season ended."

To be fair, given the way the rest of the season played out, Napier was doomed regardless, and the USF loss ostensibly sped up the process.

"The coaching ripples got even bigger when Florida replaced Napier by poaching Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, and USF landed Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline. That means the spit affected two CFP participants and might have colored the preparation of the Buckeyes’ offense in their Big Ten championship loss to Indiana."

Chaos, indeed.

Florida vs. Arch Manning

The good news is that the Gators were also recognized for one of their more positive outcomes this fall: the midseason win over the Texas Longhorns in the Swamp.

"Even though Texas tried to blame its CFP omission on a close Week 1 defeat at Ohio State, committee chairman Hunter Yurachek said the Longhorns’ 29-21 loss at Florida was what was 'holding them back.' One play that could have changed it: Arch Manning’s third-and-long heave to a wide-open Emmett Mosley V late in the first half," Baker notes.

"The incompletion led to a fourth down and a punt the Gators blocked for a safety and a 19-7 lead. Because Manning was hit as he threw the ball, it’s hard to blame him too much. But a completion would have meant a touchdown that cut Florida’s lead to 17-14 and, for all we know, sparked a win. The deep touchdown pass under those circumstances might have also buoyed Manning’s confidence and could have been a strong, early October counterpoint to the criticism surrounding his play."

Instead, the Orange and Blue defended its turf for the second of just four wins last fall.

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This article originally appeared on Gators Wire: Florida Gators college football chaos entries: Bull Spit, Arch Manning

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