Billy Napier said in July that a key element of his philosophy is, "just don’t make the same mistake twice." One mistake his Gators made in Thursday night's season opener was certainly something he won't ever want to see again.
Florida was penalized for too many men on the field when Utah was preparing to punt, gifting the Utes a first down. The actual reason for the penalty wasn't simply too many men — it was too many men wearing No. 3.
The Gators sent two players onto the field with the No. 3 on their back, committing a violation that qualifies as rare but certainly not unheard of at this level.
Florida had two players wearing no. 3 on the field at the same time for a Utah punt, which resulted in a penalty and a first down for the Utes.
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) September 1, 2023
Utah would score a touchdown a few plays laterpic.twitter.com/oT18tEkylK
The penalty was especially tough to swallow, as Utah went down the field and scored a touchdown four plays later. Florida was set to get the ball back while trailing by four; instead, the Gators didn't see the ball again until they trailed 14-3 with all of the momentum back on the Utes' side.
The entire first half of Thursday's showdown was marred by sloppiness from Florida. That's not too shocking for a team playing its first game of the season, but the Gators' defense had higher expectations considering Utah was playing without QB Cameron Rising.
MORE: Follow live updates from Florida vs. Utah
Napier isn't alone in committing such a bizarre penalty. Vanderbilt was hit with the same penalty in a 2020 game against Ole Miss, despite having a limited roster due to COVID-19 absences. Maryland was penalized for having two No. 57s on the field against Texas in 2017, and TCU had two players wear No. 2 onto the field in a 2013 during what would have been a Kansas State punt attempt.
North Carolina ran into a similar situation during last season's Holiday Bowl against Oregon. George Pettaway noticed the duplicate number and threw on a different jersey before taking the field, but he was still penalized because he didn't report the new jersey number to officials.
"We don't know who number 42 is, he slipped on a jersey." 🤣
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 29, 2022
Listen in on Gus and @JoelKlatt's reaction to this jersey swap 😂 pic.twitter.com/4NTxwKQ1PL
Florida faces a gauntlet schedule this season, including matchups with Georgia, LSU, Florida State and Tennessee, so there isn't much room for this kind of mistake.
