Geathers’ punch, Vandy player’s clip likely to result in suspensions
ATHENS – Georgia noseguard Kwame Geathers and Vanderbilt center Logan Stewart are expected to receive punishment from the Southeastern Conference for their actions on a play in the fourth quarter of this past Saturday’s game in Nashville.
On the second play of the Commodores’ first offensive possession of the fourth quarter, Stewart comes up from behind on Geathers and dives for the back of his left knee and clips him at the end of a play, in which quarterback Jordan Rodgers is run out of bounds for a seven-yard gain. After he is knocked down, Geathers immediately whips around and punches Stewart in the side.
Referees immediately threw flags. After a lengthy discussion, Stewart was called for clipping and Geathers is called for an unsportsmanlike personal foul. The Commodores were awarded an automatic first down as a result of the personal foul penalty.
The SEC has yet to issue a ruling on the chain of events, but precedent indicates both players will likely be subjected to disciplinary action from the league office.
Just last season, Georgia center Ben Jones was assessed a half-game suspension for his flagrant illegal block against Mississippi State. Jones had to sit out the first half of the Colorado game the following week.
And anytime a punch is thrown during a game, it almost always results in at least a half-game suspension. Auburn players Mike Blanc and Michael Goggans had to sit out the first half of the Alabama game last year after throwing punches against Georgia last November.
Meanwhile, repercussions could also be forthcoming for Georgia strong safety Shawn Williams. The junior starter was flagged for two personal fouls against the Commodores, including one in which he appears to be fighting with a Vanderbilt player.
If Geathers and Williams are subject to suspensions, they will be assessed in the Florida game on Oct. 29. The Bulldogs have a bye this week. Stewart’s penalty would be assessed in Vanderbilt’s game against Army this weekend.
Geathers, a redshirt sophomore from Georgetown, S.C., has started three games at noseguard for the Bulldogs and alternates regularly with junior John Jenkins. He has seven tackles, a pass break-up and a quarterback pressure.
Williams, a junior from Damascus, has started every game this season, including one at inside linebacker. He is the Bulldogs’ third-leading tackler with 34 and has two interceptions, including one against Vanderbilt this past weekend.
Saturday’s game, clinched by Georgia in the final seconds, was extremely emotional. The night ended with Vanderbilt head coach James Franklin and UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham in a shouting match at midfield.
Check out the video yourself and tell us if you think Geathers and/or Stewart deserve to be suspended.
– Chip Towers
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530 comments Add your comment
Larry
October 19th, 2011
12:04 am
That Franklin dude is one odd bird. This bird is a walking timebomb who just may go “postal” one day.
Buford T. Pusser
October 19th, 2011
12:04 am
Hairy Dawg,
Thanks for further proving my point. I apologize again Chris.
The Sheriff has spoken.
Paul in NH
October 19th, 2011
12:04 am
WhoDat – I think I know you under your 4 digit number and 4 letter acronymn
HBSDAWG
October 19th, 2011
12:05 am
Paul – are you kidding me!! Is that the best you’ve got for evidence. He got 2 PF penalties. The first was a bang bang play on a receiver across the middle. Sometimes that gets called, sometimes it doesn’t. If you suspend every player who did that, we’d have to stick to basketball. I can’t remember his 2nd flag, but the point is he got flagged.
Maddawg
October 19th, 2011
12:05 am
Logan Stewart is plain lucky it was just a punch in return. His action/play is totally inexcusable and uncalled for. Geathers’ reaction, although wrong, is completely understandable.
Paul in NH
October 19th, 2011
12:06 am
The block on Geather was a dangerous clip – but it was not a chop block. A chop block is when one offensive player is engaged high with the defensive player and another offensive player blocks the defenseman below the knees.
Here is a fine example of how it is done
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HG28AbxX240
bk
October 19th, 2011
12:07 am
Notice Vandy coach running on field to plea for a call on Geathers. When the flag comes out he is excited about the personal foul call. Notice he is in direct view of his players cheap shot and is not moving in to seperate his player if needed. Notice he is the one on all the news stating how Vandy is the victim — I call B.S. — show some class Franklin, be quiet and let the SEC rule.
Larry
October 19th, 2011
12:08 am
If Geathers were my son and this happened, I’d whip HIS butt if he didn’t defend himself! Then, I would whip the punk that did it, the coach that allowed it, and all the sissy Vandy players that got in my way.
And Mark Richt should have had the same courage Grantham did and punched Franklin right in the nose at midfield to give that theatrical goof a lesson at being a real man!
Buford T. Pusser
October 19th, 2011
12:09 am
Based on the posts to this point, and I don’t know for sure, but I would suspect that HBSDAWG stand for HillBilly Sh*teatingDAWG.
The Sheriff has spoken.
Paul in NH
October 19th, 2011
12:10 am
HBSDAWG
October 19th, 2011
12:05 am
Paul – are you kidding me!! Is that the best you’ve got for evidence. He got 2 PF penalties. The first was a bang bang play on a receiver across the middle. Sometimes that gets called, sometimes it doesn’t. If you suspend every player who did that, we’d have to stick to basketball. I can’t remember his 2nd flag, but the point is he got flagged.
———-
I am confused. Are you saying he didn’t have a bad penalty but are saying that you can’t remember what he was flagged for? So you don’t remember what happened but you do remember it wasn’t bad?
Or
Are you saying that because he got flagged he shouldn’t be suspended?
BTW – I am not saying WIlliams should be suspended for anything – but he certainly does have some dirty plays in his past.
Innocent Bystander
October 19th, 2011
12:10 am
Thank you for the evidence, Paul. That was a very flagrant attempt at injuring Fairley. Thankfully for him, Josh Davis couldn’t throw a good chop block to save his life.
Hairy Dawg
October 19th, 2011
12:11 am
Innocent, I did not say it was or wasn’t any kind of block. It was just a dirty play. Perhaps someone else needs reading comprehension. Stay focused.
TOOD was the one that did not start this Vandy's coach did
October 19th, 2011
12:14 am
vandy’s coach is lying peaice of trash what he ssif happend did noy happend.
VAdawg
October 19th, 2011
12:15 am
Let’s just call a spade a spade: Kwame is culpable on this play. Not saying that the Vandy player didn’t make a really dirty play (he did), but two wrongs don’t make a right. I bet both of them get half game suspensions, which is tough for us against Florida. If Williams get’s penalized by the SEC, I will be livid. And if Grantham gets some sort of sanction and Franklin doesn’t, I will lose it. I think both teams made big mistakes, but I am so tired of everyone acting like Vanderbilt was the victim. Franklin made an fool of himself just as much as Grantham did. Also, Franklin’s whole “we’re not going to take junk from anything” speech lost a lot of its power after that video of him crying to Richt came out. I liked him before, but now I think he is just a whiny tool. Kiffin-esque in a lot of ways really.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
12:19 am
Thanks PAUL in NH……………..Be nice to me. I have on fishingline issues. LOL.
It was a BAD HIT, but UGA fans forget BEN Jones did the same thing a year ago and called it OK.
I said last year…………IF Fairley was a DAWG doing the same HITS on the GATOR QB………….the MUTT fans would be LOVING HIM and ready to make a Statue.
DawgFan
October 19th, 2011
12:19 am
I agree. If the SEC/NCAA is reviewing plays and they did NOTHING after last years UGA-Auburn in which Nick Fairley committed all those dirty plays, then we know how it goes within the SEC/NCAA. Protect their image not the players. It’s all about the money with them.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
12:23 am
DawgFan we have to agree to disagree. Fairley did his game and the Dawgs did theirs. UGA was flagged for personal fouls early in the game long before FAIRLEY started Kicking your QB’s butt. UGA is Dirty and doesn’t ike when it is dissed back.
Crow Much
October 19th, 2011
12:27 am
The blog censors are totally absurd.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
12:27 am
Football is more than WAR. Football is like SEX. You fight hard to get an inch at a time and you hope if you drive hard enough you get to score. LOL
DawgVoiceofReason
October 19th, 2011
12:29 am
Great video. It makes it very clear that the Vandy players act was deliberate and obviously intended to injure Geathers. Geathers reaction was just that, a natural reaction. I don’t blame him at all. If it hadn’t happened on a football field, there would be no discussion and it would have been called self-defense.
Crow Much
October 19th, 2011
12:29 am
I would guess that aaron still has bad dreams about Nick Fairley.
As far as the uga/Vandy games goes, uga barely whipped perennial powerhouse Vandy. Your punter saved your game. See if that gets by the censors.
rally
October 19th, 2011
12:30 am
Oh well, the only man at UGA who has any class and is worth anything, Mark Richt, has already acknowledged that you Dawgies were bad puppies and he apologized. Too bad he is stuck with a bunch of inbred toothless hayseed fans who seem to love psychotic displays like Goon Grantham.
DawgVoiceofReason
October 19th, 2011
12:33 am
WhoDat,
Nick Fairley is one of the dirtiest players ever to play in the SEC. Only a fool or an Auburn fan would defend him. You can point out individual instances of UGA players in the wrong but none would come close to Fairley. You just can’t stand to have another one of your heros called out for what he is.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
12:34 am
DawgVoiceofReason…………PLEASE go back to the Ben Jones hit on the MSU player and explain the difference you are so mad about! yes it was WRONG what Vandy did. SO the FW! it is Karma for UGA doing the same EXACT Thing last year. Don’t sell me Cow Dung and call it Rose Food. YOUR DAWGS did the same thing and VANDY just gave it BACK. Now the MUTTS cry. GTFOI and or keep wearing the red undies. You get what you give. Grow a PAIR as you like to tell every other team but the GATORS.
Crow Much
October 19th, 2011
12:38 am
When April rolls around, the faithful dawgnation will once again proclaim itself the (perennial) preseason national champ. This will end, once again, shortly after the season begins.
That is what makes all of this so entertaining. DOG= delusions of grandeur. To translate for most of the dawgnation, that means “You think you’re great—you’re not. You are mediocre.”
RED DOG 77
October 19th, 2011
12:45 am
Geathers reaction was sort of like having to sneeze………A normal tickle in your nose will do that. I’m just surprised he didn’t react a little more, after what I saw……..but I’m glad for playing time he didn’t………….When I was a young man playing high School football, I had a coach one year who instructed us, on the first series of downs, we were to use every legal means to litterally knock the living crap out of our opponant……….didn’t matter if we scored, or they scored………just knock crap out of ‘em………..We had a very good year that year, and all was legal………..Not that I’m a Georgia Alum, I just don’t see a punishment handed out to Geathers………..:#1 Illigal and intentional “dirty” cut block……….that kid should miss one to two games……..but Geathers? hell the kid could have had his dreams of playing NFL football go down the drain with that one block!…….throwing a half-assed punch back seems pale in comparrasin………….Get it right Mike Slive………Stand-up and support your players coach Richt and Grantham……………Today? Todd Grantham and Kwamme Geathers are my favorite BULLDOGS……….keep GATA Kwammee………keep GATA coach Grantham………….When our opponants are complaining about us playing too rough…….Man, Now that’s music to my ears…………….RED
DawgFan
October 19th, 2011
12:46 am
Why has this game gotten so much attention? Last year Auburn’s players committed far more offense’s week after week and the SEC did NOTHING! Is it because they didn’t want to rock the boat because another SEC team would be playing for a National Title?
P. Bull Terrier
October 19th, 2011
12:49 am
The Vandy coach has to be thrilled with all of the publicity he is getting in Georgia after this game. It’s better than a helicopter ride to a high school game.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
12:50 am
DAWGFAN…………………UGA is the Team in the UGA v AUBURN game that got all the Personal Foul Penalties, right? You can go back and prove me wrong if you want to TRY. You can’t UGA got 3 personal Foul penalties in the first quarter alone. Now, Who was playing DIRTY? Why did Fairley get mad? It sounds like the reason you are saying gathers got mad against VANDY. How can it be OK in one game and wrong another? OH, cause it was you team doing in one game and having it DONE to the dawgs in the other.
dbc
October 19th, 2011
1:00 am
Seeing it from this angle, Geathers should have done more than punch the guy. That was as cheap a shot as I’ve ever seen. If the SEC office gives those two equal suspensions, then the SEC office is the same as the NCAA. A JOKE!
rally
October 19th, 2011
1:03 am
Be gentle Gators and Tigers when you destroy these Dawgies. They get upset with mean old Vandy, imagine what they will do when you both get through with them. Run puppies run.
William
October 19th, 2011
1:05 am
What a dirty clip. Stewart should be suspended for a game. Geathers was just reacting to a dirty play. A 15 yard penalty is enough. Probably won’t be though. The SEC office has to make a big deal of this. One game suspension for both.
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
1:07 am
dbc……………..PLEASE tell us what should have been to BEN JONES for doing the same thing to the Miss St player last year!
EXPLAIN the difference and the justification in doing NOTHING to Ben Jones.
Don’t dance the ISSUE. If it is good for the Goose then why not for the Gander?
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
1:10 am
Willie…………..the Miss St player didn’t react to the ben jones hit, but nothing was done to ben “the fat pig” jones. WHY WHY WHY WHY should it be different now that a Dirty MUTT had it done to him?
WhoDat?
October 19th, 2011
1:11 am
Waiting on the DAWGS to get to the DOME so the Bengal Tigers can make the dawg fans cry all the way home like we sent the tech fans home our last time in the dome.
Birddawg
October 19th, 2011
1:13 am
Well geathers threw a punch.The vandy player had a face mask to protect him.Geathers is running to the ball carrier and the o-lineman goes for His knee.It’s an easy call. Suspend Stewart .
dbc
October 19th, 2011
1:13 am
I don’t dance. F Face…
NCBulldawg86
October 19th, 2011
1:13 am
WhoDat? Get out of here with Fairley is innocent crap and was simply retaliating. Not only did Fairley go after Murray once, but at least two other times. Whatever he got for that spear in the back and going after his knee is fine with me. Dance with fire get burned by fire. He got what he deserved. Tell me again, what did Murray do to deserve the spear, the chin music, and the attempt at his knee? No, please, I’ll wait.
All-Involved
October 19th, 2011
1:14 am
I agree with an earlier poster. If the league suspends Gathers, to me that’s proof that AU bought their *NC last season. If Un-Fairley got away with spearing Murray in the back, and intentionally cutting Murrays face with his facemask (like the brazen coward that Un-Fairley is) then the NCAA was paid. Plain and simple.
NCBulldawg86
October 19th, 2011
1:15 am
Who Dat… Hey dumb ass! Ben Jones apologized and sent a letter to the MSU player. he admitted to it, and said it was poor play on his part and felt bad because he would hate someone doing that to him. Doubt we here a peep from Stewart.
Crow Much
October 19th, 2011
1:15 am
Whodat, here’s the answer…uga is an elite national power. therefore, they’re given a status that moves the program into perennial national status. Thus, they are above the fray, there are times when “it’s football” and Ben Jones, etal, get a “bye”. Opposing teams are penalized because they challenge the natural order of the ordained sports world.
Now, do you understand? woof! hahahahahahahahaha.
What to watch out for against Vandy - VolNation
October 19th, 2011
1:17 am
[...] [...]
Kauai DAWG
October 19th, 2011
1:33 am
Are you kidding me? Geathers should have held his temper but come on he was dealt a dirty play by the saint vandy center.
There was chirping all night and vandy is not the innocent one in all of this. Geathers deserves NO more punishment. The fouls should have been off setting and we were penalized in the game. What a disgrace.
GO DAWGS!
rally
October 19th, 2011
1:44 am
Yes, GO DAWGS…….. back under the couch to hide. This football is rough and you might get hurt. Poor poochies.
DawgFan
October 19th, 2011
1:51 am
Chip Towers, can you please watch all NCAA football games and report every personal foul. Why is this getting front page with the AJC. Are you that upset over GT losing?
DawgFan
October 19th, 2011
1:52 am
Can we please move on?
dumbugarednecks
October 19th, 2011
1:55 am
Either you’ve never played football or when you watch it you’re too wrapped up in your 10th bourbon and coke but……….THAT WAS NOT A CHOP BLOCK YOU DUMB M EFFERS!!!!!!!!!!!!
SLCDawg
October 19th, 2011
2:14 am
Everybody knows its the retaliation that gets the personal foul call every time. “vandy is classy” my as$. Franklin all but admits this was a premeditated strategy. That guy seems as classless as they come. And give it up auburn fans, fairley was a dirty player, you would have to be a blind crack addict to think otherwise.
rally
October 19th, 2011
2:14 am
Here little puppies. Its not safe out there where there are Gators & Tigers. Remember when that mean old South Carolina rooster pecked on you and you came home cowering.
dumbugarednecks
October 19th, 2011
2:15 am
@Chip Towers: I disagree with your review of the block. After watching the video several times it is clear to me that Stewart tries to get himself in position to hit Geathers on the front of his legs by taking an angle. Hard to tell on the video even in slow motion but at the very worst he only hits him on the side of his legs, not the back.