• A controversial incomplete pass call late in the fourth quarter was a pivotal moment in the Georgia versus Florida game.
• The play involved an underthrown deep ball from Florida quarterback DJ Lagway to receiver J. Michael Sturdivant.
• Officials upheld the initial ruling of an incomplete pass after a lengthy review, citing a lack of conclusive evidence.
• Georgia coach Kirby Smart acknowledged his team was “insanely lucky” on the play due to a busted defensive coverage.

The balance of the Georgia Bulldogs versus Florida Gators game hinged on a single play. Florida faced a third-and-4 with under four minutes left in the game. The Gators were trailing by four points and needed to score.

Florida quarterback DJ Lagway left the pocket to buy some time and uncorked a deep ball. Lagway severely underthrew wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant, who was at least five yards beyond the nearest Georgia defender. Sturdivant made a great play on the ball, but was unable to haul in the pass, according to the ruling on the field.

Sturdivant appeared to get his arms under most of the ball, but it was hard to locate the nose of the football, which may have bounced on the ground. After a lengthy review, officials stuck with their initial call, which was closer than initially expected. There was not really conclusive evidence to say he made or didn’t make a catch.

After the game, Georgia coach Kirby Smart was asked about the pivotal play. He did not say if he thought it was a catch or not.

“I saw wide open guy,” Smart said. “We had busted coverage. So we got a guy that’s supposed to be in the half. He got the wrong signal and played the wrong defense. We had nobody back there. We were insanely lucky that, No. 1, he didn’t score. (No. 2) He didn’t catch. I didn’t see anything (a replay). I don’t know. I can’t tell you, man. That’s what it is. That’s their job.”

Georgia was fortunate that Florida did not connect on the pass to Sturdivant, but that was hardly the only play Georgia was fortunate on. The Bulldogs had a near fumble (from quarterback Gunner Stockton) ahead of halftime that was instead ruled an incompletion. Instead, Georgia went on to kick a field goal.

Additionally, Georgia left Florida receivers open several times, but Lagway was unable to fine his guy. There’s a reason why Florida is barely averaging 20 points per game this season. The Gators did not punish Georgia for making defensive mistakes, especially with the Bulldogs’ lack of a pass rush. Another team will eventually take advantage of Georgia’s mistakes and win.

How Florida reacted to the play

After the game, Lagway admitted he needed to have a better throw. Florida interim coach Billy Gonzales also commented on the play.

“It’s hard,” Gonzales said after the game. “We’re going to go back and watch film. There will probably be more plays like that one. It’s one of those things; it just didn’t work the way we wanted today.”

When pressed, Gonzales said he did not think it was a catch. Regardless, it was a heck of an effort by Sturdivant to make it close.

J. Michael Sturdivant’s near-catch