Thursday, February 2, 2012

Curran expresses disgust of SEC crew

By on October 23, 2009

CURRAN
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CURRAN

The uproar following the celebration penalty called on Georgia receiver A.J. Green at the end of the Bulldogs’ loss to LSU was justified, the SEC said in the days after the game.

Now, the same officiating crew, which blew a call in Saturday’s Arkansas-Florida game, has been suspended until at least Nov. 14.

Just desserts, said Georgia linebacker Rennie Curran.

“It serves them right,” Curran said. “I really didn’t see anything, at least from our game on A.J.’s call. This situation it was in, it was really questionable. All they needed was a field goal to win the game with a couple seconds left. So any type of field position advantage would have helped them out. So it was a crazy call.

“So it sucks,” Curran went on. “They had another call where it was crucial [in the Florida-Arkansas game], where there was no reason for them to call it. That’s unacceptable as an SEC officiating crew, especially with the type of competition that we accept every single week . One call could cost a team a trip to the SEC championship.”

Green had seemingly scored the winning touchdown for Georgia against the Tigers, going up 13-12 with 1:06 left. After the excessive celebration penalty was assessed on Green, the Bulldogs would kick off from their own 15-yard line, giving LSU a short field en route to its game-winning score.

The same crew called a personal foul on Arkansas defender Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter Saturday against Florida, fueling the Gators’ 23-20 win. The SEC said there was no video evidence to support the call.

“[SEC officials coordinator] Rogers Redding and Commissioner [Mike] Slive want things to be done with excellence, and I guess there was a reason to make that move,” Georgia head coach Mark Richt said of the suspension Thursday.

Curran, never one to shy away from speaking what’s on his mind, had stronger words.

“That’s what it comes down to,” Curran said. “A whole game can come down to one call, one field position call that puts a team in position to call a certain play. Depending on field position, an offensive coordinator is going to call a certain play. All those things go into affect. You can say ifs and buts, but it’s really possible that those calls could cost the whole game.”