An ugly conclusion to the season for the Gators in the Gasparilla Bowl got even uglier when the clock hit zeroes on Thursday night. Following a frustrating performance in a 29-17 loss to UCF, a minor brawl began to break out after the game between both sides.
It was a somewhat surprisingly emotional game, and it was chippy long before things boiled over at the end. The Knights earned their first win ever over the Gators, while UF suffered its first loss to a non-Florida State or Miami in-state team for the first time since a loss to Stetson in 1938.
In a video posted by the Orlando Sentinel’s Jason Beede, you can see several Florida players grabbing at the helmet of UCF linebacker Tatum Bethune in the middle of the brawl.
Things got heated on the field between #UCF and Florida after the Gasparilla Bowl… pic.twitter.com/mNMn7SP5aB
— Jason Beede (@therealBeede) December 24, 2021
Luckily, the coaches were able to get the teams separated fairly quickly, and it didn’t devolve into anything worse. It’s been a frustrating season for a Gators team that began the year with SEC East division title hopes, at the very least. Instead, Florida had its third losing season since 2013 and fired coach Dan Mullen after an overtime loss to Missouri in November. It’s only fitting that the season would end on a rather ugly note.
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