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The Florida Gators had 11 penalties against USF, seven of which were called on the offense. Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

Gators Looking to Control What They Can Control After Penalty-Riddled Loss

Originally posted on Florida Gators on SI | By Cam Parker | Last updated Sep 10, 2025 8:00 AM ET

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- There's no question that the Florida Gators shot themselves in the foot consistently on its way to a rough home loss to USF.

Tight end Hayden Hansen knows this, as well.

The Gators were penalized 11 times for 103 yards last Saturday, which included two penalties on the Bulls' game-winning drive and two offensive penalties that negated touchdowns within plays of each other. Hansen was one of them, being called for an offensive pass interference in the end zone on a touchdown catch-and-run by Tony Livingston.

Hansen was blocking a USF defender in the end zone when Livingston caught a short pass from DJ Lagway before running 11 yards for a touchdown. Hansen on Monday gave his thoughts of the penalty.

"That was an interesting call. I wasn't given an explanation. I tried to ask," Hansen said. "The guy touched me first. I was just keeping him away from me. And it was after the ball was thrown, you know? So, no, I never really got a clear explanation for it."

Florida was forced to settle for a field goal on the drive, one of three field goals kicked despite having the drive end inside USF's 25-yard line. While scoring points matters, leaving points off the board hurt the Gators the most.

What could have been a 21-6 lead at halftime instead was a 9-6 nail-biter, and USF would go on to win 18-16. That play, albeit not the main reason Florida lost, was one of many the Gators would like back.

"There’s a lesson to be learned here. You’ve got to score touchdowns in the red zone in this league. After turnover margin and the explosive plays, it’s red zone scoring. Period," head coach Billy Napier said. "Defense did a nice job on stopping them. We’ve got to finish. We’ve got a chance to make some plays when we get it down there, and we’ve got to do that. I think we need to be better there going forward.”

Of Florida's 11 penalties, four were procedural offensively (false starts, delay of game), three were in-play offensively (holdings, pass interference), one was procedural defensively, two were in-play defensively (personal foul and pass interference) and one was an unsportsmanlike conduct after a play that led to an ejection.

Florida DL Brendan Bett was ejected after appearing to spit on another player. pic.twitter.com/VNfvjw15dF
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 7, 2025

Florida also had three false starts on its offensive line, which had at least one penalty on each position.

"Any time you go out there, that’s the easiest way to lose is to beat yourself, and that’s an area of conversation that we kick our own tail," center Jake Slaughter said. "Very frustrating.”

While Florida's players aren't afraid to admit they made mistakes, Hansen's penalty is potentially one that could have easily gone the other way and is one the Gators are trying to get clarification on

Florida submits a series of plays each week to the SEC office, Napier said, hoping for clarification on questionable calls and no-calls. Still, Napier admitted on Monday that Florida failed to control what they could control.

"You make mistakes, I make mistakes, (the officials) got a tough job just like we do. We’ll see what they say. But I’m kind of more focused on the things that we had total control over," he said. "Sometimes we don’t have control over what they do. We made enough errors that we had control of and that’s my job.”

Now with a road trip to No. 3 LSU next on the schedule before games at No. 5 Miami and at home against No. 7 Texas, Florida really cannot afford the self-inflicted wounds or leaving calls up to the officials.

"At the end of the day, we can't leave things up to the refs," Hansen said. "I mean, you see what happens when you do that. So, you got to go out there and win the game ourselves."

Kickoff against the Tigers in Death Valley on Saturday is at 7:30 p.m. with television coverage on ABC.

This article first appeared on Florida Gators on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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