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| | Thursday, December 2 | |||||
| ATLANTA -- The SEC officiating crew that missed a crucial
call in the Georgia-Georgia Tech game has been suspended by the
conference.
The seven-man crew, rated the best in the SEC, ruled that
Georgia's Jasper Sanks fumbled at the 1-yard line in the final
seconds of the game Saturday. Television replays showed that the
ball popped out after Sanks hit the ground.
The score was 48-48 when the ball was awarded to Tech. The
Yellow Jackets won 51-48 in overtime.
The suspension means the officials will not work the SEC title
game between Florida and Alabama. Several of the officials involved
also will lose their postseason assignments. SEC officials have not
said if the men could be fired.
Saturday's officiating crew included Al Ford of Florence, Ala.;
Bud Williams of Tallahassee, Fla.; Ron Leatherwood of Waynesville,
N.C.; Al Matthews of Duluth; Blake Parks of Murfreesboro, Tenn.;
Ben Oldham of Lexington, Ky.; and Toby Silberman of Lookout
Mountain, Tenn.
Ford defended the call after the game, saying two of his
officials saw the ball come loose before Sanks was down.
But he said Monday that Williams missed the call.
"I have seen the game and play since then, and at full-speed
it's close," Ford said. "It is a bang-bang play, but when you
slow it down, no one I have heard or seen has said it would be a
fumble. It isn't a no-brainer though."
On Sunday, Bobby Gaston, the SEC supervisor of football
officials, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the officials
were wrong.
Suspending officials, particularly an entire crew, is unusual.
Earlier this season, the ACC suspended a crew for one game for
incorrectly marking off the yardage on a penalty and for allowing
the 25-second clock to expire without calling a penalty.
The TimesDaily in Florence, Ala., reported Wednesday that the
decision to suspend the crew was made by SEC commissioner Roy
Kramer after a phone call from Georgia athletics director Vince
Dooley.
"The conference office will not comment on that issue or any
other issue related to personnel decisions," Kramer told the
newspaper Tuesday night.
| ALSO SEE Official who didn't work Georgia-Georgia Tech game also suspended
Georgia fumble looked like bad call, SEC official says
Georgia Tech tops Georgia 51-48 on FG in OT
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