Gary Pinkel sounds a bit disillusioned here.
Quarterback James Franklin is sporting a nasty purplish bruise over his left eye, the result of getting his helmet ripped off in the pile during Saturday’s game. Franklin’s helmet came off twice against Georgia, both times triggering the new NCAA rule that requires a player whose helmet comes off on a non-penalty play to leave the game for one play. Corbin Berkstresser replaced Franklin on both plays. On the first, Franklin said his shoulder pads got popped up over his head and knocked his helmet off. The second time, he felt a player grab his chinstrap and rip it off and yank the helmet off, too. “I’m sure our players didn’t take it off,” Gary Pinkel said. “And I’m sure he didn’t take it off. It just happened. … Every single time his chinstrap was snapped off. It didn’t just slide off. So, I don’t know what to say.”
I bet he wishes his team had tried that on Jarvis Jones a few times Saturday night.
Get The Picture 
Welcome to the SEC fellas.
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Can’t handle old man football,Coach? “Show me” you can suck it up.
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It would be helpful, in times like this, to have multiple cameras filming his every move from different angles to help prove or disprove such thinly veiled allegations…oh wait…what? Oh OK, nevermind.
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The first time they showed a replay and it looked to me like their OL popped up and knocked the helmet off.
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I have no idea if the Georgia players were doing that. I certainly hope not. But that’s exactly what you expect to get when you make a stupid rule like that. It was so predictable that helments would be pulled off. Just wait until it happens to the wrong player in a huge game at a crucial time.
So what to do? I would like to see research into the reason so many helmets are coming off, as opposed to five years ago. It should be easy to fix…but leave it to the NCAA to use a cannon to kill a fly.
Fix the helmets and leave the rules as they were.
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That’s funny, uglydawg. I hope our players WERE doing that. That’s what nasty defenses do…and we got us one.
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For sure. KEEP ripping off the helmets!
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I’m just thankful that Tebow graduated before this rule came into effect. I can’t imagine the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments from the announcing booth if he were mandated to leave the game.
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You would have seen an amazing increase in “TV timeouts”.
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Jeez, butthurt much, Gary? Why don’t you pour a glass of Cabernet and relax!
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Mizzou logic: one time = “every single time”
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Governor, thats my wife’s logic. It’s maddening.
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“She said she needed a ride and I thought she meant to the bus station…”
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Or, put another way: “How can I miss you if you never leave?”
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I don’t mind the rule. I also don’t mind attempting to exploit the rule to your advantage within the game. After a play, ripping a helmet off would be unsportsmanlike. Within a pile up, this and much worse has always been a part of the game. Do we wish our guys were more ‘gentlemanly’?
Yeah, I was pissed when Ealey’s eyes were poked before a national audience, but again, I bet that wasn’t the only time he was poked, and he didn’t seem to have a problem with it when interviewed. I seem to remember he was nonchallant, saying it was part of the game. You get your pound of flesh back the same way yours was taken. Not complaining about it afterwards.
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More…my biggest problem with the Aubies in ’10 (Fairley) wasn’t two fold: First, I believe what he did crossed legitimacy bc he was intentionally going after AM’s knee once. Part of the design of the rules is to prevent unnecessary injury and should be enforced thusly. Therefore, my biggest problem was the lack of enforcement. He was allowed to continue his behavior in multiple games without penalty. His spearing, his even lifting qb’s to spear, is dirty, but if he is allowed to do it, can one not argue its part of the game? It was permitted. Now I don’t like him, loved it when our guys decided to police what the refs weren’t and would never coach my kids to play the way he did.
But, using a hard snap to entice a off-sides, talking to attempt to incite a punch from an opposing player in front of a ref, ripping off play wrist bands from a qb in a pile up, tearing at chin straps in the hopes that the helmet will come off…go for it.
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“was” not “wasn’t” in that first sentence…I need more coffee…on second thought, maybe I need less.
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So it’s OK to go after a guy’s eyes but his knees are sacred?
Hell, I’d rather have a bum knee than be blinded.
Hahira, I sincerly hope you’re in the minority on this.
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We were never taught to poke eyes. But we were to punch the nose or chin and groin. Obviously in a pile up you have 3 inches maybe to generate mo, no pulling back to swing in. Really its more like driving/pushing your fist than punching. That aint injury, but it is annoyance and makes ’em not want to get in a pile up with us.
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Was it “The Longest Yard” where a hypodermic needle found it’s way into a pile?
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M.A.S.H.
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It’s all dirty. And I’m very doubtful that Richt would accept such behavior. And thankful that he wouldn’t.
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+1
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+100
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When they play Vandy the skies of truth will clear…
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Someone needs to tell Coach Pinkel that there is no whining in the SEC
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Steve Spurrier disagrees. Even Urban Crier formerly disagreed.
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Don’t forget Barbara Dooley.
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My problem with the rule, which some coach WILL figure out is the stopping of the clock.
Use LSU as an example, with their 4-headed tailback monster. Battling to comeback against us in the SEC championship game…had to use all their timeouts to get the ball back. After every play, Miles tells his tailback to pop his helmet off. Dude has to leave for a play, but they have 4 studs, so no big loss. Bunch of free timeouts could be garnered that way, imo.
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Wasn’t it Les who also figured out how to game the rule about kicking and penalties and no time off the clock a couple of years ago. He did like 5 times in a row and the next week the rule was changed?
Sorry I can’t remember the details.
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That was Bielema. JoePa had an apoplectic fit over it.
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tbia, you have a sick but genious brain. That’s amazing prophesy. It could be used on defense to keep a team from running the clock out. Georgia seems pretty deep with linebackers.
Pretty soon NCAA football will be like basketball, where intentional fouls prolong a game and often determine the winner….a situation that was never intended when the rule against fouling was invented. It sucks, but you’re right…everything will be expolited that can be exploited.
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The NCAA went off half-cocked again. Make ’em look to the entire sports world like the idiots that they are someone! Please!!!
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So, you’we saying that wules/wegulations can have unintended consequences? Pwepostewous!
Even if youw assertion wewe twue, which I dispute, we can simply make a new wule to solve the pwoblems of this wule. And we can make another wule to solve the pwoblems of that wule. We can stay ahead of it fowevew! Fowevew, I say!
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+1
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+1 Wow, I can hear him say that.
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I can recall at least one time Berkstresser came in and made a good play, so it’s not like we gained much from it even if his allegations are true. Point is, bringing it up when it’s pretty clear it didn’t affect the outcome is just whiny more than anything.
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Replay clearly showed a Mizzou o-linemen bumping into Franklin to pop off the helmet on the first one. No idea on the second.
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I think it was Big Bad John Jenkins who just grabbed him a handful of Franklin from behind and threw him down on the 2nd one. Almost wondered if was a horse-collar, but sure was not a face mask, but just a great and violent play on JJ’s part.
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The tackle on Gurley on the 40 yard run was certainly a horse collar.
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I seriously doubt we’ve been taught to rip helmets off. More accurate is that we are ripping chin straps off in the hopes that the helmet will come too.
Good point above tbia. This is another reason why I love football. There are so many ways to work the system.
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If you where you’re helmet right, it won’t come off. Ray Lewis’s helmet never comes off and he hits harder than anyone in the world. It’s prima donnas who want it to come off and dont want to wear it tight enough or buckle it correctly.
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agree
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Following Gary’s Spurrier-like remarks, Gary’s publicist determined to withhold the release of Gary’s SEC Ready photo until Gary gets his first win in the league
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I make this comment only because it involves Mizzou whining. Did anybody notice that Cornelius Washington, he of the well timed fake injury, was held out of practice yesterday with a bad hamstring?
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He was faking it to help his teammates a longer water break.
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My Spidey sense is tingling for want of a lexicon entry.
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Finkeling- a pissing and moaning coach whinning because his pretty boy Qb has a bruised ego and chin!
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Wonder what Mike Slive has to say about that comment. Gary Finkel just said he did not think much of SEC officiating. That was a very good crew in that game. Did Finkel say he contacted the SEC about it.
Coach Finkel, look you lost the game. Get over it. Why bitch about two those damn plays in game. If you want to pick out two from your quarterback’s plays for public consumption, tell the SEC what happened on the fumble and the interception.
Doubt if the officials in the game would allow a player to rip off the helmet of player. Can happen, but I’d expect a penalty. Plus, coach find a grown man on your team to enforce it. That was our problem against the Gators a couple of seasons back. We had no men on the team in those days. You can bet your freaking tiger butt that Grantham will enforce a player ripping Murray’s headgear off. One thing Missouri needs to learn about the SEC, let things go, stop talking so much, and just play the damn game. All this sophomoric, pee wee league mentality in sports today is absurd.
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Pinkie should be thankful the Dawgs were flat and didn’t crank it up form the get-go. It could have been really bad.
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The helmet rule is shit. And while many here are revelling in it because it happened to Mizzou, it’s a double edged sword. One I hope we don’t get gored by in a critical situation, particularly if it’s the result of an opposing team tearing off a helmet hidden under a pile rather than a loose hat just popping of on contact.
I don’t know if there’s a good solution but maybe requiring a second instance of the helmet coming off a given player before forcing him to miss a play. Sort of a yellow card if you will. Additionally, the penalty for purposefully removing the helmet of an opponent should be severe, say 15 yards and sitting out the next 2 possessions.
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This. Though it’s difficult to see what’s really happening when they’re in a pile.
But there’s no doubt Auburn was going after Boyd’s helmet in their opener. That poor kid had a different helmet brought out, strapped down so hard you couldn’t even see his eyes, and it still came off if he ended up surrounded by Tiglesmen. It wasn’t a surprise, either.
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There are other parts to that rule, none of which I like. It should be discontinued now. Isn’t there a part about continuing loss of helmet?
We need a discussion of the entire rule. There are reasons not to have any parts of the rule, the first being that it accomplishes nothing to apply it after the fact. Perhaps, as a preventative of concussions to unhelmeted players, a player should be forced to get another (and tighter) helmet only if it comes off during the active part of the play, not in the pileup. If it comes off during an active part of the play, it calls for play and clock stopping. The whistle is blown even though the player may be struggling forward, but the play is dead including loss of yds gained after the helmet came off . That part makes the lesson learned to keep it snapped tight because you lose the yards.
This rule doesn’t do what they want it to do (prevent concussions and worse). It simply is there to remind about prevention, but at the expense of the game flow. It won’t last.
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How bout a rule that if the helmet comes off, the player must play the remainder of the game with it off?! That might stop it.
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just be glad they didn’t take the head AND the helmet. JK
Of all the tihings to complain about. They got first downs on BOTH plays he sat out
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Well, not really. I agree that Pinkel’s complaints don’t seem to be supported by the facts. But the backup failed to rush for the first down the first time it happened, which forced a punt. The second time the backup had to come into the game, they did get a first down on the play, but it was due to a pass interference penalty on Shawn Williams.
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Here’s the game tape, 1st lost helmet at 12:40…the 2nd at 2:28:40, I think the video evidence refutes Mr. Franklin’s claim…
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I tend to agree with you. First instance looks incidental and the second, with Big Bad John riding herd, is 365 lbs. of downward force meeting another oncoming tackler. The helmet loses in that scenario.
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I think the rule should be modded to be closer to the injury rule, where if a player goes down and stops the clock they MUST come out. OR, the coach can call a timeout and get the player back right away. Similarly, if a player’s helmet comes off, the team can call a timeout (if they have one), and get the player back right away. To me, that strikes the right balance for strategy and safety.
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It happened in the play where Motel 6 ran down Franklin behind the LOS in the 4th quarter.
C. Washington went to rip the ball out of Franklin’s hands, and the next time you see him, Franklin is standing up with his helmet off. Strap it on, son, and it wouldn’t be an issue.
His next play (after sittin one out) was Jarvis’ INT.
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I think it is safe to say that by the end of the 4th quarter that Dawg defense had J.Franklin more than a little rattled. And they did it without much exotic blitzing/ stunting — just straight-up football.
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The Missouri Breaks: James Franklin Ode to Jarvis Jones
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That ole boy is all right…but no promo or the like. Who is he? Also, that looked to the somewhat trained eye like the Grand Canyon of Texas, near Amarillo.
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Helmets w/ soft chinstraps do not come off; they hug the chin and don’t protrude at all. Hard chinstraps look cool, but they slide off in perspiration, and they protrude enough to be knocked off; this allows the rest of the helmet to slide up and off the head.
Go back to the old school Riddels.
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