Ole Miss caught a massive break from the officiating crew late in their game against Florida on Saturday, and Gators fans were understandably furious about it.
Florida was trailing 27-24 when they forced a huge turnover on downs deep in their own territory with 2:42 remaining at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford, Miss. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Gators quarterback DJ Lagway tried to complete a short pass to running back Jadan Baugh. The pass was broken up by Ole Miss cornerback Cedrick Beavers.
A flag came out on the play, as it seemed obvious that Beavers delivered the hit on Baugh before the ball got there. Replays clearly showed that Baugh got there early, but the pass interference flag was inexplicably picked up.
The refs threw a flag on this, and then PICKED IT UP and said there was no pass interference on Ole Miss.
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) November 16, 2025
Higher ranked SEC team in trouble? Refs going to do absolutely anything to help them every time.
Unbelievably suspect games in this league. pic.twitter.com/XeZgTCpaZV
Fans could not believe the flag was picked up. It would have been one thing if the penalty was not called to begin with, but many people were convinced that the officiating crew picked up the flag to help Ole Miss win and remain on track to reach the College Football Playoff.
SEC making sure Ole Miss doesn’t miss the CFP. They literally picked up a pass-interference flag on this play. Florida… your own conference doesn’t even pretend to like you. pic.twitter.com/CjQNDlmaaT
— Shawn (@JockeyDesk) November 16, 2025
This has been happening to Florida all year honestly. Imagine unbias games against Georgia and Ole Miss. Yeah they would jeopardize the amount of SEC teams to get a playoff spot.
— Jodak Orange (@JodakOrange) November 16, 2025
Been happening for decades – Pat Dye used to say “if you need 2 yards vs Alabama you better get 3”
— BPJ (@bpjauburn) November 16, 2025
Florida benefitted from a couple of significant penalties earlier in the game, so some believed picking up the pass interference flag was a make-up call for the Rebels. Still, that was a terrible looking for the officiating crew because of how obvious the penalty was.
Ole Miss stopped Florida on the drive and forced a turnover on downs. Lane Kiffin’s team then ran away with the game and won 34-24, improving to 10-1 and keeping their College Football Playoff hopes intact.
