Georgia coach Mark Richt said Sunday he has addressed Saturday's post-game incident with everyone involved after UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin had an angry exchange of words.
"I just think that tempers were hot [and] it was a very heated ballgame ... for everybody," Richt said. "When you look at the big picture, it certainly wasn't a pretty scene, but it really could have been a lot worse than it was. I thought coaches on each side and even some players did a good job of trying to keep the peace and get everybody off the field without anything really horrible happening."
Still, the incident disappointed Richt, who reviewed video of it on Sunday.
"For me, personally, I like it at the end of a ballgame when everybody can just walk across the field and shake hands and say good luck for the next one," Richt said. "Unfortunately, it didn't happen this ballgame."
Video of the moments following Georgia's 33-28 victory in Nashville show Franklin appear to point toward a Georgia player or players, perhaps safety Shawn Williams, and Grantham glare and shout at Franklin. First a police officer and then a Vanderbilt player got between Franklin and Grantham as Richt and assistant coaches separated the teams.
Asked by reporters afterward what provoked the incident, Grantham said, "I love my players, and I'm going to support my players." He repeated essentially the same answer to subsequent questions.
"What happened ... is we had a very tough, emotional game, and some things were said that I didn't think were appropriate," Franklin said at his postgame news conference. "I tried to find Coach Richt to address it, and I couldn't find Coach Richt. I happened to have a discussion with one of their assistant coaches, and it didn't go well. And I apologize that things escalated from there."
Emotions boiled over, verbally and physically, several times during the game.
"We all know that we want to do things a certain way, and we want to be able to keep our poise throughout the ballgame," Richt said Sunday. "We need our players at the end of a play to not be chirping or anything. Just go back to the sideline if you're on a special team or go back to the huddle if you're still on the field. Let's just play football.
"But, as we know, it's a very physical game, and emotions do get flared up. Sometimes things happen on accident, and everybody gets riled up about them and it's hard to slow those emotions down."
Asked if he expects repercussions from the SEC, and that would include a play in which nose tackle Kwame Geathers appeared to punch a Vanderbilt player, Richt said, "I have no idea. ... I've not been contacted in any way on those issues and hopefully we won't [be]."
Georgia, off this week before playing Florida in Jacksonville on Oct. 29, emerged from the turbulent weekend on a five-game winning streak, back in the Associated Press poll at a tie for No. 24, and still even with South Carolina for first place in the SEC East. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks have 4-1 league records and are two games ahead of third-place Florida, which dropped to 2-3 in the conference with Saturday's loss to Auburn.
If Georgia and South Carolina finish the season in a tie, the Gamecocks would go to the SEC Championship Game by virtue of their Sept. 10 victory over Georgia. But South Carolina will face the remainder of its schedule, including league games against Tennessee, Arkansas and Florida, without star running back Marcus Lattimore, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Saturday's 14-12 victory over Mississippi State.
"We absolutely gotta keep winning I know that," Richt said. "And somebody still has got to beat South Carolina."
