The SEC Admits Mistake On Sheppard Penalty

by Alex Abrams

Posted on 19 October 2009
Tags: Malcolm Sheppard, SEC

I have plenty of notes in Tuesday’s newspaper, but I wanted to throw one of them on the blog. After all, the hot topic on Internet message boards is the questionable officiating in Arkansas’ 23-20 loss at second-ranked Florida on Saturday.

It’s not often that the Southeastern Conference comes out and says, “My bad.” Well, it did today.

Here’s the story:

The Southeastern Conference admitted Monday that Arkansas defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard didn’t warrant the personal foul penalty called late in last week’s 23-20 loss at second-ranked Florida.

Toward the end of the play, Sheppard was flagged for hitting Florida offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert away from the action. But a TV replay shows that Sheppard hit Gilbert only after the offensive lineman tried running into him first.

The penalty gave the Gators a first-and-goal from the 10-yard line, and Florida’s Jeff Demps ran for a touchdown on the ensuing play to tie the score at 20-20 with 7 minutes, 27 seconds remaining.

On the play before Sheppard’s penalty, Arkansas cornerback Ramon Broadway was called for a questionable pass interference penalty.

“After video review, there was no evidence on the video to support the personal foul penalty called on Arkansas midway through the fourth quarter,” the SEC said in the statement released Monday afternoon. “The other calls that were referenced are judgment calls and a review of those calls have been communicated to Arkansas.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said he spoke with Rogers Redding, the SEC’s Coordinator of Football Officials, about the controversial penalties.

Petrino said he was also disturbed that Florida wide receiver Riley Cooper wasn’t called for offensive pass interference on Arkansas cornerback Andru Stewart on the Gators’ game-winning drive in the final minutes.

“There’s not a lot of recourse. We do submit plays to the SEC just like we do every week,” Petrino said. “Obviously, I called and talked to the director of the officials, but there’s not a whole lot we can do about it.”

Categorized | Football

3 Comments For This Post

BoutDemHogs Says:
October 19th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
POST THIS EVERYWHERE HOG FANS!

Hog fans. I know we tend to feel many times like it is us against the world. ESPN and other media outlets usually do not support or talk much about our team. Many felt slighted at what happened Saturday. And surprisingly pretty much every football fan outside the Gator nation as well as ESPN and others have spoken out for the Hogs since that time. This is new to many and so many Hog fans are continuing to harp on this and take the opportunity while the stories are being written to discuss. I live in Colorado. But if I lived in AR and in the UA Campus area what I would do is applaud (literally) every player I saw. At the grocery store, at the gas station, at the restraunts, before class if you are a student, as you walk past them wherever you may be. Stop and clap for them. Let them know you are proud of them and believe in them. Move past the feelings on the refs and how the game ended. Literally if you live in the area please do this. I think it is crucial that the players now how much the way they competed and played Saturday means to us. Anyone that lives in the area go to the Catfish hole Wed and be outside if you can’t get in for the Bobby Petrino live show and applaud them and make a scene! Bobby and the two players he chooses for the show this week will pass on what they saw and how big it was. I am serious! Do this. I want to hear about the support of the fans this week in interviews and how they have been being applauded everywhere they go!! I mean it.
Rah Says:
October 20th, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Boutdemhogs……I agree with everything you said. However, many of us feel that this has gone too far and we are DEMANDING that something be done about the terrible officiating in our league. I realize they’re not going to change the outcome of this game but they need to come up with a system that holds the Refs accountable. This same group of Junior High Refs called the Georgia – LSU game on CBS two weeks earlier and the SEC had to make a statement on their obvious mistakes. The very same crew is given the biggest game of the week on CBS a couple of weeks later? Everyone knows they are human and going to make errors. But there has to be some kind of line that when crossed, they are demoted or suspended for the season. This is the reason there is such an uproar around the country. Millions of people witnessed that last part of the game and watched a closely fought battle turn into a circus with the clowns wearing being the men in black and white. The SEC will lose it’s luster if this continues without consequence.
sicntired Says:
October 20th, 2009 at 10:39 pm
oh whoops…we made a bad call or two. Where was the review of these horrible calls during the game?…it matters not 3 days later. How about a suspension of the refs that called the game. How about a lead official in the booth upstairs overseeing the calls made by the refs on the field? Something has got to give. These guys influenced the outcome of the game. That should never happen!

1 Trackbacks For This Post

Grunts: The South “Won’t” Rise Again? « Perpetual Notions Says:
October 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am
[...] changed the momentum of the game, leading to a kick made after the play clock expired. The SEC apologized for the most egregious call , suspended the repeat offenders and reprimanded the Arkansas coach for [...]

If you're looking for posts from today's game, don't forget to follow me over at @NWARobbie now. No longer posting here. 2009-11-07
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