Player throws opponents shoe 20 yards downfield, a breakdown
What Happened
In a crucial fourth-quarter matchup between the LSU Tigers and the Florida Gators, the game is knotted at 23-23 with just two minutes remaining. As the Gators face a crucial third-and-10 situation, Florida defensive back Zachary Carter (#3) makes a crucial tackle on LSU wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (#87), pulling him down mid-air. In a surprising turn of events, Carter then grabs Thomas's shoe and hurls it approximately 20 yards downfield. Thomas is now standing on the field, his left shoe missing, as a teammate retrieves the wayward footwear past the 50-yard line. Carter's teammates celebrate his display of strength, but the referees quickly throw a flag, assessing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Florida defense. The officials clearly state that Carter will be penalized for "throwing the LSU player's shoe 20 yards down the field." Despite Carter's protestation that it was actually teammate #11, not him, who threw the shoe, the penalty stands. The Gators manage to convert the third down and move the ball further downfield. LSU kicker Damian Ramos (#36) then splits the uprights, giving the Tigers a 26-23 lead with time still left on the clock. However, Florida kicker Adam Mihalek (#19) misses a potential game-tying field goal as time expires, sealing the 26-23 victory for LSU. As the Gators players and coaches reflect on the bizarre shoe-throwing incident, Carter sits on the sideline, seemingly contemplating his impulsive action and its costly consequences. The game, played in heavy fog, sees the two bitter SEC rivals battle down to the wire. The stakes are high, as both teams aim to gain an advantage in the competitive conference landscape. The shoe-throwing moment becomes a key turning point, ultimately impacting the final outcome of the closely contested matchup.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe got lsu in florida they're tied up in
the fourth quarter two minutes left and
they're playing under
heavy elements just fog all up it's
third and ten
and they don't have good field position
so they need to convert here
they go to number 87 number three tracks
them down
pulls them down out of midair takes his
shoe and throws it 20 feet down the
field
so now 87 standing there his left shoe
isn't on his foot
and you can see this dude in the
distance picking it up past the 50-yard
line so
i mean he kind of threw it 25 yards just
a nice
shoe throw from number three on florida
the only
the only bad thing is that would have
been fourth down and
clearly the ref has to call a penalty so
he grabs it right off his foot slips off
like butter
and all of his teammates celebrating and
he's doing like the i'm a strong man i'm
a strong man
as all of his teammates are realizing
dude why'd you throw his shoe
and that's kind of awkward and just
flags galore and now
under the elements of the fog the ref
say yeah that's not good
87's trying to put his shoe back on
doesn't untie it and retie it he just
tries to go the lazy route and
jam his foot in there we've all done
this halfway through you're like man why
am i so lazy why can't i just untie and
re-tie
the refs call out the exact penalty
they say exactly what happened after the
play
unsportsmanlike conduct number 11 of the
defense
throwing the lsu player shoe 20 yards
down the field
number 11's like come on dude i didn't
throw the shoe it was number three
don't put that on me i'm no shoe thrower
but they kept going they got the first
down there so then they move a little
more downfield now number 36 on lsu
the kicker just splits the uprights to
give them the lead
which wouldn't have happened if the dude
didn't unnecessarily throw a shoe
who shows who throws a shoe honestly now
he's doing the gator clap right in their
damn face and number three sitting on
the sidelines
giving himself a good thought doing some
good thinking why did i throw that shoe
i didn't need to throw that shoe now
shoes come into play again because
number 19s
fail him he misses which means lsu wins
which means number three
has to do a lot more thinking these fans
are upset
wilson under the heavy elements of the
fog you know
this guy hey i'm upset too don't forget
me cameraman
and look how much he missed his kick by
would have tied the game
dude
just chucking shoes man losing games and
chucking shoes
would have been a lot of time left on
the clock for florida to put together
their shot at a game-winning field goal
instead
they lost it is funny that i don't think
he even thought about it like
i don't think he had the thought i'm
gonna chuck this
it was just like he's a born shoe
chucker
can't help himself