College football, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

You can almost hear the pleasure in Rogers Redding’s voice as he said this:

“Previously, it was treated as a dead-ball foul regardless of where it happened,” he said. “Now, if a player is about to score, and around the 6- or 7-yard line, he goes into a strut or turns around and (taunts) an opponent that will be a live-ball foul and will be called as a live-ball foul.”

Only Redding’s people are allowed to strut during a game.

75 Comments

Filed under The NCAA

75 responses to “College football, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

  1. TennesseeDawg

    And we want to put more trust in make judgement call to SEC referees. Great idea.

    Like

    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      Rogers Redding (no longer of the SEC thank goodness) and other SEC refs like Marc Curles don’t get it. The fans do not pay their hard earned money to watch the referees. The fans want to see the players play the game.

      Like

  2. Go Dawgs!

    “Only Redding’s people are allowed to strut during a game.”

    That might be the most hilarious, most true, and best thing that I’ve ever read on this blog.

    Like

    • Mike Slive

      This is not true.

      Tyler Bray, Tim Tebow, and any player or coach on an $EC BC$ bound team are allowed.

      Except for Petrino. I hate that dude.

      Like

  3. crapsandwich

    The Mr. Magoo’s of the SEC part time stripe league, get once again, the ability to make another “judgment” call. Why do I sense the call will go against Georgia?

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  4. WarD Eagle

    I hate to wave the racism flag, but I would like to see the breakdown of celebration penalties called in the conferences of traditionally white schools versus those of traditionally black schools. I think this is a bunch of white guys who grew up taught to “act like you’ve been there before” and think that’s the only way to play.

    Much like most of you , I grew up playing sports in a town with a 50:50 white/black ratio and we talked smack across the board.

    I care less about taunting than I do concussions, TV timeouts, replay delays (or replays at tall), etc.

    Besides, if they want to flag someone for unsportsmanlike conduct, why not flag idiots that make a tackle after a 15 yard gain and 1st down while they’re losing by 20? Now that I think of it, I would like to see a “The player acted like a moron, penalty”.

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    • Scorpio Jones, III

      Ward,

      The racial (or more accurately, societal) aspect of this stuff is old news. The rule was designed by old, white guys, what do you expect? (And, yes, I know who was the leader of this pack.)

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      • WarD Eagle

        (And, yes, I know who was the leader of this pack.)

        TOOMY TOOBERVILLE?

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        • Dawgfan Will

          He’s talking about Vince Dooley.

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          • Mayor of Dawgtown

            And it bit CVD on the ass in the Bama-Uga series once. Georgia scored with less than 2 minutes left but had to kick off from the 15 because of a celebration penalty. Mike Shula was the Bama QB and he took the Tide down the field with short passes (with no timeouts, as I recall) for the winning TD in large part because the kickoff was run back to midfield. If the Tide had to go the whole field they never would have been able to score before time ran out.

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    • Macallanlover

      It is certainly no surprise to find an AubieCane defending bad behavior. Nothing wrong with rules to prevent the game from being trashed, but Redding’s crew has shown themselves incapable of making good judgements in sooo many areas. Need to clean the Birmingham outhouse, starting with Slime and Redding.

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      • Scorpio Jones, III

        Maybe I misunderstood something, but I thought Redding was off to be the head cheese of college officials or something.

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        • Macallanlover

          My bad, that had slipped my mind. Guess I should feel comforted that a great decision maker like the commish has, or will be making the decision on the replacement.

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      • Redding’s gone already. That’s the good news.

        The bad news is that he’s in charge of the whole NCAA shooting match.

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        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          The other good news–the SEC doesn’t pay attention to what the NCAA says about officiating. So Redding will be whistling Dixie.

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      • WarD Eagle

        Ahhh…there’s an old white guy now.

        Personal Fouls
        AU – 5
        UGA – 6

        But, by all means defend your planned team end zone celebrations.

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        • Ben

          Give me a break. An Auburn guy talking about class and sportsmanship is the last thing we need to hear. With all of the cheating scandals Auburn has on their record along with having some of the dirtiest players in recent memory on their squad, you’re having to rely on something that happened one time.

          Really, though, it’s telling that you didn’t mention the dancing on the sideline during the Blackout that same year. I guess, though, it’s easy to forget who your daddy is when you come up with one illustrious year achieved under dubious circumstances.

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          • Macallanlover

            Seriously, is this AU apologist actually getting involved in a discussion about integrity and following the rules? Talk about having no cred, street or otherwise! Considering their actions over the past several decades, there is a strong case that football should be eliminated at that institution…at least the SEC getting a better representative school. Hard to endure the national criticsm about the SEC’s actions knowing that The aU is truly guilty of what everyone is saying.

            Yes, the Big 10 +2 and Ohio State is guilty of something similar to Cammy with delayed punishment, but I don’t know another program that wouldn’t have reigned Fairley the Fairy in, much less tolerated boosters whose actions have continually embarrassed them for dozens of years. Bottom-dwellers!

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            • WarD Eagle

              Awwwww. You two are so cute together.

              thUGA…6 Personal Fouls in one Game.

              That’s gotta be record.

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              • Keese

                Ward let’s get one undeniable truth established about Auburn football, whether you like it or not…they are always involved in dirty controversy.

                Every BCS champion other than Auburn has had some legitimacy to it without controversy.

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                • Go Dawgs!

                  As a dyed-in-the-wool Auburn hater, I was with you until you went with “every BCS champion other than Auburn has had some legitimacy to it without controversy.”

                  It pains me, but what about Southern Cal? Even before we learned about Reggie Bush’s cheating, we all wondered if they’d beat the undefeated SEC Champs from Auburn (and, personally, I think they would have). Throw in the scandal, the vacated wins, yeah, I’d say there’s some controversy there.

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                • WarD Eagle

                  Okay, you’ve convinced me.

                  Nonetheless, your dirty program had 6 personal fouls when playing my dirty program.

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          • WarD Eagle

            Haha!!! Want to change topics to the days of yore?

            Sure.

            Since you can’t be a day over 30, let’s compare the two programs over a time period that at least encompasses your lifetime.

            National Titles since 1981
            
Auburn: 1 (2010)
            
Georgia: 0

            SEC Titles since 1981
            
Auburn: 6 (1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2004, 2010)
            Georgia: 4 (1981, 1982, 2002, 2005)

            Undefeated Seasons 
since 1981
            Auburn: 3 (1993, 2004, 2010)
            
Georgia: 0

            Head to Head Wins
 
since 1981
            Auburn: 16
            Georgia: 13

            Wins since 1981
            
Auburn: 255
            Georgia: 253

            SEC Wins Since 1981
            
Auburn: 141
            Georgia: 138

            Bowls Since 1981
            Auburn: 22 (15-6-1)
            Georgia: 27 (17-8-2)

            Heisman Trophy Winners since 1981
            
Auburn: 2
            
Georgia: 0

            If you’re 12, which your posts seem to imply, then the above might be a shock to you.

            Since you’re surely to bring up the 1980 team – the basis of every thUGA fan’s delusions of greatness – I’ll give you another Heisman winner, SEC title, and MNC.

            Either way, by all means bring up the greatness of the blackout. By the way, thUGA had 10 penalties that game.

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            • How convenient that you left out 1980.

              By the way, you might want to go back and check out the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner. Get back to me when you do. 😉

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              • WarD Eagle

                I stand corrected.

                For some strange reason, I had Herschel on my mind as 1980. Obviously, Halfzheimer’s has set in.

                As far as convenience, I made a note on 1980. But, let’s not imagine that Mr. Blackout Game Was The Only Game That Mattered had a less selective list.

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                • Well, in your defense, Herschel should have won it in ’80, too. 😉

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                • WarD Eagle

                  I was looking at the numbers….check out who he beat in 1982.

                  http://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1982.html

                  I guess my SEC homerism was riding high at the time, but man, Eric Dickerson’s numbers were pretty incredible. 100 fewer attempts / 150 fewer yards. Winning all your games makes a huge difference.

                  I vaguely remember the Pony Express being widely discussed, but I guess today’s coverage really shows the limits of what one truly remembers about other teams. We probably had access to 2-3 TV games a week then?

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                • Scott W.

                  Just can’t hide your bias for the “not so amature” players there can you.

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                • WarD Eagle

                  Also, 1980 adds some victories, bowl win, etc.

                  I guess I don’t treat my web comments like a brief.

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                • Dude, don’t pretend it was an accidental oversight. You excluded 1980 ON PURPOSE. That would be like excluding 2010 from Auburn’s numbers.

                  When you don’t artificially exclude 1980, UGA has:

                  Same number of national titles.

                  More wins.

                  More SEC wins.

                  More bowls.

                  More bowl wins.

                  1 less heisman winner (the most irrelevant thing possible)

                  1 less SEC title.

                  Auburn didn’t have to play Florida and Tenn every year while they dominated the entire SEC in the 90s either.

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            • 69Dawg

              That’s the point ass clown we get penalized for showing up because Redding was a GT grad. The rest of the SEC can beat the heck out of our guys and it’s just incidental contact.

              Why shouldn’t Auburn be number one you guys have a bigger player payroll than half the NFL teams and always have. I’m 63 and have lived through all your pay for play scandals so spare me the righteous indignation.

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            • Ben

              The only reason I brought up the Blackout, guy, is because you referenced the “planned team end zone celebrations” in your post. For the record, though, there was only one planned celebration that day. I’d have felt no need to bring up the Blackout except that your reference was to something that happened before the incident I spoke of.

              Thanks, though, for quoting all those numbers. It reminded me that at least two of your undefeated seasons in that span came as a result of, how should I say it, questionable practices.

              Also, if my mind serves me correctly, I do believe it was a UGA squad coached by one of the more incompetent SEC coaches in recent memory that helped to end that nice little 20 game win streak, right?

              Finally, you were a bit off on the age thing. I’m more than a day over thirty, but nice try at attempting to denigrate my POV based on my age.

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              • WarD Eagle

                At least you admit your coach runs a thug program.

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                • NRBQ

                  Fuck Auburn.

                  Fuck the “program.”

                  Fuck you.

                  Go be a hero on an Auburn blog, if you can read it.

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                • WarD Eagle

                  “Go be a hero on an Auburn blog, if you can read it.”

                  I can’t, the words have more than four letters.

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                • Hackerdog

                  Right. We have players who get caught emerging from alleys and not using their middle names.

                  The $180k question is, does Auburn have players that engage in any illegal or unethical conduct that bad, or worse? 😉

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        • Scorpio Jones, III

          Man, you need to quit smoking that free stuff from the cow barn.

          Like

  5. hailtogeorgia

    This is going to change a game, and it’s going to be ridiculous when it does. Say what you will for sportsmanship, but a celebration penalty should never decide whether or not a score stands. Talk about overreacting.

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    • Gravidy

      I’m with you, Hail…to a point. I would rather have a game decided by blocking and tackling than see it be decided by a high-stepping player on his way to the end zone.

      But here is where I may disagree with you. When/if this new rule is properly applied to a player who spends the last ten yards of a scoring run taunting the opponent, I will blame the player rather than the officials. Whether we like the rule or not won’t matter. The player will know the rule. If he chooses to break it, then he will have to answer to his team.

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      • Russ

        The problem was blatantly shown during one day of the bowl games. Kansas State was forced to try for a much more difficult 2-pt play from the 18 yard line because of a EC penalty called by the Big 10 crew. The scoring player saluted after he scored the TD in the final minute of the game. Meanwhile, in the next game, the UT players are throat slashing after every score and basically jerking each other off, and the Big 10 crew there never throws a flag.

        This rule will last exactly one season. The amazing thing about it is that the rules committee put this into play, and the rules committee is made up of coaches. I can’t believe they really worry about that stuff.

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      • hailtogeorgia

        I see where you’re coming from, but I feel like you have to adopt a laissez faire approach here. If the player struts, the player struts…I don’t agree with it and I wouldn’t approve of it, but it shouldn’t warrant a spot foul that negates the score. Strutting has enough bad consequences without the penalties (Leon Lett, Mikey Henderson’s punt return for a touchBACK, DeSean Jackson against the Saints his rookie year…several others).

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        • Gravidy

          To be clear, Hail (and also Russ above), I’m not defending the rule. I don’t trust officials to enforce this rule any more objectively and justly than they have enforced the current celebration rule. I don’t enjoy the fact that inept officials will have even more power to affect the outcome of a game on celebration penalties than they have had in the past.

          I’m just saying that the players will know the rule, and it will almost certainly be applied next year. Furthermore, it may even affect the outcome of a game or two next year. All I’m saying is that if/when that happens, I won’t be angry at the officials. The player in question will have made a concious decision to strut, and his team will pay the price.

          In my opinion, this new rule is aimed at cutting down on celebrations across the board via intimidation. Officials are hoping that the mere threat of taking points off the board in a few rare instances will calm the players down in general.

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          • Macallanlover

            I agree, just because officials do a poor job of enforcing the law doesn’t make it a bad law. Whether you like the Unsportsmanlike Penalty definition or not, it is hard to treat it any differently than other rule enforcement guidelines. Whether a violation occurs within the play has always been different than had it occurred after the play. All comes down to how well the positioning is handled. One would hope they err on the side of tolerance, especially with dives into the end zone. I like penalizing the strutters, but if anyone is within 5 yards of a player about to score you can make a case for diving since the runner often doesn’t know the exact spacing without looking back.

            Like

  6. Turd Ferguson

    And yet, there’ll still be an unlimited supply of on-the-field Gator chomps. Because that’s different. It is.

    Like

    • WarD Eagle

      I’m okay w/ chomps as long as both teams can do it.

      Like

      • Bulldog Bry

        That’s what ticks me off. Massaquoi got a 15-yarder in ’07 for doing the chomp.

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        • hailtogeorgia

          He got that because of the endzone dancing, and that’s it. The officials were trying to keep the game from turning nasty.

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      • hailtogeorgia

        I’m choosing my words very carefully here…but I have a feeling the age old refrain of “We can do it because we are one of them” is what will be referenced in defense of the gator chomp.

        Like

  7. Dog in Fla

    And for the upcoming season, Rogers has issued a standing order that each of The SEC officiating crews will have their own pre-game intro music

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  8. Zdub

    Let’s just hope that Richt and his coaches beat this rule into the thick skulls of every single player on the team this year. I would keep them in a mandatory meeting for at least 3 hours telling them this stuff over and over until, even if they tried, they could never forget it.

    We get so many unsportsmanlike penalties called on us every year and it needs to stop.

    Like

    • Mayor of Dawgtown

      The way to end that problem is to do what Auburn does (at Malzahn’s behest, I understand). After the whistle has blown or a TD is scored the player with the ball politely hands it to the official. He then runs to his teammates and does whatever he wants to do. I have never seen a celebration penalty called on a player who first did that. We get too many unsportsmanlike penalties because (1) the refs hate us and will call it on us at the drop of a hat; and (2) our players act in an unsportsmanlike manner all the f#cking time.

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      • WarD Eagle

        WHAT?!?! AUBURN PLAYERS DON’T DANCE IN THE END ZONE?

        YOU MUST BE MISTAKEN. AFTER ALL, IT’S READILY AVAILABLE INFORMATION [at least throughout the most erudite comments found in this blog] THAT AUBURN IS A THUG PROGRAM.

        Like

        • Mayor of Dawgtown

          Auburn is a thug program. The Auburn coaches are smart enough to recognize that and have put into place a safety mechanism to protect the team from its own thuggery. Some of Auburn’s fans, on the other hand, simply exist in a permanent state of denial.

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          • WarD Eagle

            So, you’re saying Richt & Co. aren’t smart?

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            • Mayor of Dawgtown

              Aubie, have you not been reading what I have been writing on this blog the past 5 months? Lobotomized is more like it. But the saving grace is that UGA got a brain transplant courtesy of FLA. Their loss is our gain.

              Like

  9. Stoopnagle

    DeSean Jackson thinks this is horsepoo.

    Like

  10. The Watergirl

    Oh great give refs even more ways to decide outcomes of games, this rule is a joke and shouldnt have a rule that decides scores on judgement calls

    Like

  11. gernblanski

    Lest we forget that it was a our “old white guy” AD with ties to Auburn who led the charge to institute the celebration penalty. I think UGA ended up being one of the first teams to flagged for it.

    Just like “Ring-gate” begat AJ Green.

    Like

  12. 69Dawg

    The problem is that there should be two separate penalties. Celebrating or calling attention to oneself should be a delay of game type penalty 5 yard penalty. Taunting should remain 15 yards unsportsmanlike. To compare a salute to the fans to a throat slash gesture to the opponents bench is to compare shoplifting to assault but here we are. I’ll just be happy to see the SEC refs call a helmet to helmet once in a while. They just stand there and watch guys launch themselves head first into the QB’s and ignore it. There is no effective enforcement against the worst officials in college football.

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  13. Rogers

    If you bellyachers don’t quit your bitching and moaning about the take-away points live-ball strut foul, I will by God make sure your team pays for it next season in at least the Florida, Auburn and Tech games. Bet on it.

    Like

  14. Smith is here

    I will take “Isiah Crowell headed to the end zone v Boise State w time expiring ” for $100, Alex

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    • Alex Trebek

      (Reading): “The cause of the lynching of an entire crew of SEC football game officials in Atlanta Georgia in 2011.”

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      • Ugly Girl with Glasses

        “What was the ‘celebration penalty’ called by referee Penn Wagers that took away points from the University of Georgia Bulldogs football team and caused that team to lose the game when the replay showed that nothing was done at all?”

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      • Smith is here

        CORRECT, you have the board.

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      • Macallanlover

        That game will not be called by SEC officials, imo. A neutral site game usually works like a bowl game.

        Like