What we learned: SEC officials just bad, not crooked
A penalty for those penalizing
The SEC has decided to suspend one of its officiating crews for a poor call in the Florida-Arkansas game. To this we say: What took so long?
The shoddy officiating, of course, has led to conspiracy theories: The SEC is protecting Florida to get the Gators to the national title game. Sure, or the crew just isn’t that good.
Judging by prior performance, it’s pretty safe to say the crew just isn’t that good.
This is the same crew that blew two key calls—both excessive celebration penalties—in the LSU-Georgia game. In both instances, the games were impacted by the bad calls.
Last week in Gainesville, the crew called a personal foul on Arkansas D-lineman Malcolm Sheppard midway through the fourth quarter of Florida’s 23-20 victory. The SEC said the foul shouldn’t have been called, and instead of first-and-goal at the 10 with Florida trailing 20-13, it should have been second-and-10 from the 21.
A play later, Florida tailback Jeff Demps scored on a 10-yard run to tie the game. After Arkansas K Alex Tejada missed a 38-yard field goal, Florida drove 69 yards for Caleb Sturgis’ game-winning 27-yard field goal.
SportingNews.com
10/23/9
