Postgame interview in Florida-Mizzou game halted when officials put 1 second back on clock

Even if you’ve watched college football for years, it’s not likely that you’ve seen many games end quite the same way that Saturday night’s game between Florida and Missouri concluded.

Looking at the box score, everything seems normal. Missouri’s Harrison Mevis made a 30-yard-field goal with five seconds left, giving the Tigers a 33-31 lead with five seconds remaining. That stood as the final score. But in those five game seconds between the made field goal and the game ending, things got unusual.

Florida looked to be setting up a hook-and-ladder play, but Kahleil Jackson couldn’t corral the pass from Max Brown. With that, both teams took the field to shake hands and ESPN sideline reporter Katie George approached Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz for the standard postgame interview. As as Drinkwitz began to sing the praises of his team, everyone found out that the game was actually not quite over.

“We proved the belief in each other. We proved our quarterback’s a stud.” At this point, George looked away, realizing that something was a bit off. After Drinkwitz said “We proved throwing the ball to Luther Burden,” George and Drinkwitz could be heard saying “One second left,” nearly simultaneously.

Drinkwitz loudly screamed, “Hey,” in an attempt to get the attention of his players, and anyone else on the field. George, meanwhile, repeated, “One second left, everybody.”

And as the field began to slowly clear, play-by-play man Joe Tessitore asked, “We’re going from players on the field and a coach’s interview, to putting a second back on the clock?”

Katie George: "ONE SECOND LEFT EVERYBODY."

Joe Tessitore: "We're going from players on the field and a coach's interview, to putting a second back on the clock?"

Indeed. As Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz was in his postgame interview, a second was put back on the clock. pic.twitter.com/IqSsJIzhG0

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 19, 2023

That is exactly what happened. A slowed down look at the play appears to indicate that one second was still on the clock when the ball hit the ground. But even if the call was right, the officials were far too slow in making it clear that the game might not be over. Players and fans storming the field prematurely is a fairly common sight. But we don’t usually see postgame interviews begin.

And it wasn’t like George caught Drinkwitz right on the sidelines. More than 40 seconds expired between the apparent ending of the game and George beginning the interview with Drinkwitz, while roughly a minute passed from the time the ball hit the ground to when George seemed to realize something might be off.

Oftentimes in situations like this, we see the trailing team pull some miracle out of its hat. Who can forget 2002’s Bluegrass Miracle, when LSU beat Kentucky with a Hail Mary, after Kentucky coach Guy Morriss had been given his Gatorade bath?

There was no further awkwardness to be had here. Brown did complete a pass to Jackson, who quickly lateraled the ball to teammate Ricky Pearsall but it went no further. Pearsall was quickly tackled, ending the game.

…And to finish the story, what happened on the final play once everyone returned?

Not much. pic.twitter.com/4Vz8DgnUG3

— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 19, 2023

Still, we have another weird interview to add to the list in a season that has already seen its fair share of them.

[Photo Credit: ESPN]