SEC official says penalty on Green was bad call

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It won't change the outcome, but the SEC admitted that its officials made the wrong call on the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green late in the Bulldogs' loss to LSU Saturday.

Enlarge photo

Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com Teammates celebrate touchdown with Georgia wide receiver A.J. Green before back judge Michael Watson. Watson would call a penalty for excessive celebration.

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"We looked at it from the TV recording of the video and looked at it quite a bit from a different angle than [the official] had," said Rogers Redding, the SEC's officials coordinator. "This was coming from the perspective from the field of play. But we concluded that the video did not support the call."

In a statement, Georgia coach Mark Richt acknowledged a conversation with Redding, "and I appreciate him looking into the situation. But that game is behind us and all the attention now is preparing our team to play Tennessee."

The call heavily impacted the game's outcome. With just over a minute remaining at Sanford Stadium, Green's touchdown reception from quarterback Joe Cox put the Bulldogs ahead 13-12. As teammates celebrated with Green in the end zone, Redding said the official judged that Green "separated himself from the group and sort of went to the stands in an act of self-congratulation."

Redding said conference officials reviewed the CBS broadcast footage Monday morning.

Said Redding, "I don't doubt the official saw what he saw. We didn't see the player pulling himself away from his teammates and going towards the stands in a form of self-congratulation."

The 15-yard penalty assessed on the ensuing kickoff, along with another five-yard penalty on Georgia for illegal formation on the kickoff, helped the Tigers start the next possession at the Bulldogs' 38-yard line. Two plays later, LSU running back Charles Scott ran 33 yards for a touchdown, after which he was assessed another unsportsmanlike conduct penalty in violation of Rule 9-2 in the NCAA rulebook, which prohibits "any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player (or players) attempts to focus attention upon himself (or themselves)."

Redding said that the penalty on Scott was called correctly.