Florida HC Dan Mullen on Marco Wilson's Shoe-Throwing Penalty: 'It's a Shame'

The Florida Gators saw their College Football Playoff hopes almost fade completely with a stunning 37-34 loss to the 4-5 LSU Tigers on Saturday after Marco Wilson's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing an opponent's shoe helped set up Cade York's winning field goal in the final 30 seconds.

It was a shocking development, but Florida head coach Dan Mullen appeared to defend it by calling it a "football move":

"That's not the reason we lost the game," Mullen told reporters. "He's disappointed. It's a shame. I went back and watched the play. I don't think there was any intention to taunt. He threw a shoe and went to celebrate with his teammates."

That penalty came after a third-down stop and kept LSU's drive alive. Instead of getting Heisman Trophy contender Kyle Trask the ball back in a tie game with a chance to win, the Gators defense gave up more points following the penalty.

To Trask's credit, he drove Florida into field-goal range in just 23 seconds on the ensuing possession only to watch Evan McPherson miss from 51 yards out.

Florida was in a situation where it essentially controlled its own destiny at 8-1 entering play.

It already clinched the SEC East title and was No. 6 in the College Football Playoff. A victory over LSU and then No. 1 Alabama in the conference title game would have surely propelled the Gators into the four-team playoff field for the first time in program history.

Instead, they are coming off one of the worst losses of the entire season.

The Tigers may be the defending national champions, but this year's version is a shell of the one that had Joe Burrow leading the way. The best they can finish is 5-5 with a win over Ole Miss, and this will be a bad loss on Florida's resume even if it did stun Alabama.

The loss has reverberations for Texas A&M as well, as its marquee win over Florida now doesn't look nearly as impressive as it did before Wilson threw the shoe.