Florida Gators star Brendan Bett has come under fire after spitting on a rival player during their game on Saturday night.
The Gators, lead by head coach Billy Napier, were on the wrong end of a shock 18-16 loss to in-state rivals South Florida – but it was Bett’s actions that stole the headlines.
In the fourth quarter – when the Gators were leading 16-15 – a frustrated Bett was seen confronting Bulls star Cole Skinner before seemingly spitting on him.
The defensive lineman was immediately ejected from the game and Florida were hit with a 15-yard penalty – which moved the Bulls to their own 39-yard line.
In the next play, running back Isaac Alvin produced a 29-yard gain which left the Bulls deep in Gators territory. They won the game with a 20-yard field goal as time expired.
Bett’s actions therefore proved incredibly costly for his team, who were stunned by their unranked opponents and later mocked on social media for the defeat.
Florida Gators star Brendan Bett appeared to spit on a rival during their defeat on Saturday
The defeat put the Gators at 1-1 and brought Billy Napier’s record in his fourth season to 20-20.
The incident comes just two days after a spitting incident rocked the NFL on the opening night of the new season.
During the league’s season-opening showpiece game, Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Carter spat on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
League insider Tom Pelissero claims Eagles defensive tackle Carter, who was ejected for spitting on Prescott just seconds into the 2025 campaign, could face ‘additional discipline’ after his disqualification in Philly.
Footage that later emerged revealed that it was actually Prescott who spit first – however the Dallas star insisted that it was not a hostile act.
As Prescott attempted to explain it wasn’t his intention, Carter, the best player on the Super Bowl champions’ defense, got carried away and spat at the signal caller’s face.
The ref caught Carter’s move and immediately decided to eject the player, announcing the news to the stadium and leaving millions of fans stunned as they watched the 2025 season opener.
Both players spoke out on the controversy after Philadelphia went on to seal a 24-20 victory over Dallas at Lincoln Financial Field.
Jalen Carter (right) inexplicably spat at Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott on Thursday
Carter was ejected from the game after just six seconds in a disastrous start to his season
‘I feel bad for my teammates and the fans out there. I’m doing it for them,’ Carter said. ‘It was a mistake that happened on my side.
‘It won’t happen again. I don’t try to do nothing out of the ordinary. I wanted to be out there with the guys so bad.’
Prescott, meanwhile, explained: ‘I’ve probably spit a thousand times during the game, I guess I needed to spit so I spit ahead. He (Carter) said, “Are you trying to spit on me?” At that point I felt he was insulting me, I wouldn’t try and spit on anyone.
‘He just spit on me in that moment. It was more of a surprise, refs saw it and threw the flag, I thought ‘hell yeah we’ll get 15 yards to start the game’. I didn’t realize he was going to get ejected, he is a hell of a player. It changed our gameplan.
‘Unfortunate circumstances, it’s probably going to get a lot of coverage and attention.’
