By Ben Troupe
SouthernPigskin.com

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Former Florida All-American Ben Troupe talks Marco Wilson.

“Dem Boyz ” lost to LSU after being 23.5-point favorites and their College Football Playoff hopes are probably over. Florida had the better record. Florida had all the momentum. Florida had everything on the line. LSU just had a better day. This game had a lot of storylines, drama and plenty of miscues and mistakes, but the mistake, or should I say error, seen and heard around the sports world, was made by a defensive back throwing another player’s shoe.

Think about that for a second. For as long as I have watched football, I really had thought that I’d seen it all. I stand corrected. That player goes by the name of Marco Wilson. You know, the Marco Wilson who is one of four cornerbacks to start as a true freshman at Florida. The Marco Wilson who is one of the key components on Todd Grantham’s defense, playing the Star position. A playmaker. A big time talent. A continuation of the tradition of the Wilson family tradition at Florida. That Marco Wilson.

Yes, it was third down and the Gators had made the stop and LSU was going punt the ball back to Florida’s offense. Yes, Marco got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by, of all things, throwing the player’s shoe. If Florida was up by multipe scores and and Marco does that exact same thing, some would have seen him as a hero, not the villian. I don’t think he should be seen or treated as either. Marco is a student-athlete who made a mistake. He had a bad sense of judgement that cost his team. That’s it. No more, no less. Marco made a bad choice in a split second. Have you? Marco feels awful about it. I feel awful for him. The difference is the college football world hasn’t come down on you like they have on this young man.

Look, I don’t like what Marco did, but I can live with it. He is human. He made a mistake. He is paying for that mistake and will likely, because of the world we live in, have to deal with that mistake for a long time. But it’s a game where a lot of plays lead up to a final score. It’s a game where Florida had opportunities that were missed. A game that I wanted Florida to win. A game that Marco wanted Florida to win. He just made a very quick and reactionary mistake.Fact is, the Gators lost for a number of reasons. I am not going be one of the ones that come down on this young man; I am going to be one of the ones that simply say it happened and that we move on.

Just like I would want my teammates to do if I made a mistake that cost my team.

Marco, keep your head up big time. Don’t listen to all of the negativity and go make a play in the SEC Championship game. It’s crazy that you can do so many things right, with so many positive moments, but in the eyes of some your career and everything you have done can boil down to one mistake. A big mistake, but one mistake nonetheless. One moment in time. There have been many.

Marco, you are my Florida Gator brother and that is not going to change because of an error made on a third down. It’s called football. It’s called humiility. It was a mistake. It hurt. It’s all part of what can happen. It’s a game where countless things happen. You play defensive back, which means you are trained to have a short memory and fast forward to the next play. It’s time to apply that logic like never before.

In All Kinds of Weather. On to Atlanta.