ATHENS, Ga. -- Southeastern Conference coordinator of officials Rogers Redding admitted Monday that the crew working Saturday's LSU-Georgia game erred in penalizing A.J. Green for excessive celebration following his 16-yard touchdown reception with 1:09 remaining.
On Tuesday the score remained: Tigers 20, Bulldogs 13.
"I didn't want to hear that today," Georgia quarterback Joe Cox said of the league's mea culpa. "Who knows what could have happened? The same thing could have happened. Maybe (Trindon) Holliday would have run it back for a touchdown. You never know.
"We had a lot of opportunities throughout the game where we could have helped ourselves to where we wouldn't have had to rely on a flag changing the game. They had a flag thrown on them, too, after they scored."
Cox finds a morsel of amusement in that Green is as shy as any player on Georgia's team and was accused of drawing unnecessary attention to himself.
Bulldogs coach Mark Richt believes the penalty changed the dynamics of the game but said there is no way of knowing of whether it affected the outcome. He was appreciative of Redding admitting the gaffe and believes it's time to look at the rule.
"We just have to be careful not to take the joy out of the game for the players and the ability to celebrate something good," Richt said. "I do think that it has to be in a certain way. If it involves taunting an opponent, there certainly should be a flag for that."
King suffers setback
Sophomore tailback Caleb King, who has 121 yards on 30 carries this season, suffered a concussion and a fractured jaw in Saturday's loss. Richt believes it's unlikely King will play this week.
"He can't do anything until the concussion symptoms clear," Richt said. "As soon as they clear, I think they would let him practice immediately with no contact."
Fellow sophomore Richard Samuel should start at Tennessee, according to Richt, with freshman Washaun Ealey as his backup should King not play. Ealey played for the first time last week and led the team with 33 yards on eight carries.
Redshirt freshman tailback Carlton Thomas, who began the season as the backup to Samuel, hasn't played the past two weeks.
Please, not me
Tennessee junior safety Eric Berry holds the SEC record with 487 career interception-return yards and is 15 yards shy of the NCAA mark owned by former Florida State cornerback Terrell Buckley. Berry had a 54-yard return last year at the expense of Georgia's Matthew Stafford, and Cox knows he could be a dubious footnote should he get picked off this week.
"You probably just jinxed me," he said. "I don't want to be the guy who gives him that record, so I'll make sure I don't throw one up for him."
Cox has been intercepted in every game, including the last pass he threw against LSU.
"Of course I get one when we're trying to throw it down the field to get a big chunk of yards and they've got nine people in coverage," he said. "I was trying so hard this last game to take care of the football, and then something happens on the last play."
Odds and ends
Tennessee holds a 20-16-2 series edge, but Georgia is 6-3 this decade after losing nine meetings in a row. ... Cox on whether Georgia has fallen behind the league's elite: "We lose a close game to the No. 4 team in the country, and we drop out of the polls. If we would have won, we would have been in the top 10." ... Richt said Georgia's woes on kickoff coverage are due to inconsistent placement of the kicks and having "the youngest bunch we've ever had out there."
David Paschall is a sports writer for the Times Free Press. He started at the Chattanooga Free Press in 1990 and was part of the Times Free Press when the paper started in 1999. David covers University of Georgia football, as well as SEC football recruiting, SEC basketball, Chattanooga Lookouts baseball and other sports stories. He is a Chattanooga native and graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received numerous honors for ...
I agree that the call was bogus. However, the play calling from our Offensive and Defensive Coordinators thus far, is far worse than this celebration penalty. The SEC said they made a mistake. What for??!! It will not change the outcome of the game now. Either way you slice it, we lost. We should never be in a position to let a penalty determine whether or not we lose. On Defense, we were not ready for LSU's no-huddle attack. And our wonderful DC did not make the adjustments for this in the second half. Our tackling is becoming suspect again. LSU was not even trying to score a touchdown that last drive. They were wanting to run-clock and setup for a game winning field goal. Our lack of fundamental tackling showed it's ugly face again, letting Scott score from 30 or so yards out, on a draw of all things. Now to our lack-luster offense. I am not a over-paid college football coach, but if I can predict the plays that we are going to run on offense (like draws and screens), don't you think the opponent's coaches can do the same thing? In the first half of last week's game, on 3rd and 8, we run a draw. Bobo loves the draw, why? who knows!! The draw is a play that might get you a couple yards once out of ten tries, and usually never yields your team 8 yrds or more. It was like the OC was saying, we give up, we'll just punt. Hell, we should have just punted on that third down. We ended up losing yards on the play. We have good players on both sides of the ball. Are they the best in the country? -no. Can they win? -yes. However, the coaches have to teach them the fundamentals (like tackling, etc.) and more importantly give them the right play-calls to put them in a position to execute. The "boos" that came from the crowd last week were justified. If any fan says otherwise, they either are not "dawg" at heart, or just oblivious to what's going on. The "boos" were aimed at the coaching staff, not the players. This is the University of Georgia. Football is king in the south and especially in Athens. This is not some Big 10 team, not some always over-rated Notre Dame team. This is the DAWGS!! I was born Georgia bred and raised. I am an Alumni and this season thus far has been nothing short of disgusting. If things do not change, then Richt needs to clean house, or he will eventually be the one to go. (I am not in favor of Richt going; but if he does not change his coordinators, and give this team a chance to win, then he needs to go. Loyalty only goes so far, when you are in charge and in the hot seat.)
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