Billy Napier Apologizes for 'Embarrassing' Florida-FSU Skirmish After Flag-Planting

Florida head coach Billy Napier apologized after Gators players planted a flag at midfield following a 31-11 win over Florida State on Saturday.

"Obviously, what happened there at the end of the game is not who we want to be as a program," he told reporters. "It's embarrassing to me, and it's a distraction from a really well-played football game. I want to apologize on behalf of the entire organization just in terms of how we represented the university there. We shouldn't have done that. We won't do that moving forward. And there will be consequences for all involved."

Florida edge-rusher George Gumbs Jr. theatrically drove a Gators flag through the FSU logo at midfield, a moment that sparked a shoving match between the two teams.

At one point, Seminoles head coach Mike Norvell took the flag and threw it aside. He also had what looked like a tense postgame exchange with Napier.

Norvell said he "told him what I thought" in reference to the conversation.

"They won the game and they have the right to celebrate just like we have in the previous years," he said. "This is the way that you operate? That's fine. You want to come do that? That's absolutely your decision that you can have within a team."

Similar scenes played out across the country.

Tensions boiled over after Michigan's 13-10 victory over Ohio State in Columbus, and the situation was made worse when police used pepper spray on the assembled group of players and staffers.

Elsewhere, North Carolina wide receiver J.J. Jones took a North Carolina State flag and launched it like a javelin when Wolfpack players tried to drive it into the Kenan Stadium turf.

A team "planting" its flag at an away stadium after a big win is nothing new, and it has happened plenty of times before without incident. Players being petty toward their vanquished foes is part of what sets college football apart.

But what transpired Saturday led to inevitable handwringing about crossing a perceived line with postgame celebrations, and conference commissioners are unlikely to tolerate the on-field altercations.

Much in the same way the SEC has attempted to ban the act of storming the field/court, there could be similar measures intended to dissuade players from planting their school's flag.