Top-ranked Florida will be without star linebacker Brandon Spikes for the first half of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt.
Coach Urban Meyer suspended Spikes yesterday, two days after it appeared that he tried to gouge the eyes of running back Washaun Ealey of Georgia in a 41-17 victory.
"I don't condone that," Meyer said. "I understand what goes on on the football (field), but there's no place for that. We're going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That's not who he is. That's not who we are. He got caught up in emotion."
Spikes issued a statement of apology, saying: "I accept responsibility for my actions and I accept the consequences of my actions. I would like to apologize to my team and the coaching staff and Washaun Ealey. Football is a very physical and emotional game, but there is no excuse for my actions."
After seeing a replay, which shows Spikes shoving his glove-covered right hand into Ealey's facemask and moving it back and forth, Meyer spoke to Spikes and determined that he was retaliating after getting his helmet ripped off and his eye poked earlier in the game.
Meyer also talked to Mike Slive, the SEC commissioner, but Florida officials said it was Meyer's decision to suspend Spikes. The SEC issued a statement saying it reviewed and accepted Florida's discipline.
"We understand the game of football," Meyer said. "Some of us have played it. Very emotional things happened in that game in particular that were not good for either side, but the bottom line is we're Florida and he's Brandon Spikes and we expect certain things. He understands."
Spikes, a senior who played at Crest High in Boiling Springs, N.C., is fourth on the team with 42 tackles and has three sacks.
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