ATHENS – Wrapping up the officiating debacle from two weeks ago in Austin, there are two loose ends left to tie:
- One, it appears that there may have been repercussions for the crew that officiated the Georgia Bulldogs’ 30-15 victory over then-No. 1-ranked Texas on Oct. 19;
- Two, indications are the targeting suspensions for Georgia defensive backs Joenel Aguero and Dan Jackson will be upheld. That means that the Bulldogs will be without the two starters for the first half of Saturday’s game against Florida in Jacksonville.
Getting anybody to say anything on the record about either situation is pretty much impossible. Silence is the primary language spoken when it comes to football officiating and the calls referees make in games, good or bad.
Without question, the crew that worked Georgia vs. Texas 12 days ago mishandled one particular situation. An unreviewable interference call that went against Texas – and eventually was reversed – resulted in a 4-minute, 50-second delay of the game due to water bottles, beer cans and other trash being thrown on the field by angry Longhorns fans. The officiating crew was publicly reprimanded by the Southeastern Conference and Texas athletics was fined $250,000 for the unsportsmanlike actions of its home crowd.
“The original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed (and) it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time,” the SEC said in a statement released after the game.
Meanwhile, the nine-person crew that officiated that game did not work an SEC game last weekend. The SEC office would neither confirm nor deny that their absence was a punitive action for what happened in Austin. However, the league acknowledged that grounding a crew is one way conferences hold officials accountable for poor evaluations.
“During the season, officials may have their assignments altered based on in-season performance,” SEC spokesman Herb Vincent said via email. “The SEC typically will not publicly announce those decisions.”
Following is the SEC officiating accountability policy:
- All SEC officials are held accountable for their overall body of their work and the work of their crew, which is reviewed on a weekly and annual basis.
- Every call by each official during every game is analyzed by a team of experienced position evaluators. These evaluations take place through post-game video evaluation.
- These ongoing performance evaluations are used to determine game assignments, SEC Championship Game and postseason bowl assignments, compensation levels and, ultimately, whether an official is invited to return for the following season.
- In addition to serving as an important evaluation tool for each official and crew, this extensive review process is utilized for continuous training and education of the entire officiating roster.
The officials that worked Georgia-Texas were: Referee - Matt Loeffler; umpire - Stan Weihe; linesman - Nicholas Trent; line judge - Michael Shirey; back judge - John Morton; field judge - Antonio Smith; side judge - Jesse Dupuy; center judge - Jason McArthur; and replay official - Mitchell Wilkens.
The SEC would not say whether that crew is working this weekend. If they are, it’s unlikely they would be assigned to Saturday’s game between Georgia and Florida in Jacksonville. The SEC does not announce officiating assignments before games, though referees are identified in the official box score.
More pertinent to Saturday’s game between the No. 2 Bulldogs and Florida is the availability of Georgia’s starting strong safety and nickelback. Persons with knowledge of the situation say the Bulldogs unsuccessfully sought an appeal of the targeting suspension for Aguero. The sophomore defensive back was flagged for targeting and disqualified with 6:46 remaining in the fourth quarter after tackling Texas running back Quintrevion Wisner. Though it certainly was a hard tackle made at the end of a reception over the middle, Aguero did not appear to launch or to make contact with either his helmet or the ball-carrier’s helmet.
Targeting suspensions can be overturned only by appeal to NCAA national coordinator of officials Steve Shaw, and they are extremely rare. In fact, no SEC has ever had an overturn, according to the league office.
However, just this week, Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese had his targeting suspension overturned from the second half of last Saturday’s game against Nebraska. Therefore, Reese will be available for the entirety of this Saturday’s game against Penn State.
Coach Kirby Smart declined comment on Aguero’s outcome when asked about it this week.
“I’m not really worried about that,” Smart said earlier this week. “It is what it is right now. Our guys are trying to get ready for Florida and we’re going to prepare to play Florida.”
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