Suspension possible for Bama player for hit on Georgia QB Aaron Murray
ATHENS — Georgia athletic director Greg McGarity confirmed Monday the Bulldogs have asked the SEC to review the legality of a hit on Aaron Murray that required him to be helped off the field shortly before halftime in the SEC Championship game. But they need not have bothered; the league office is already looking into it.
Alabama defensive lineman Quinton Dial hit Murray with a above-the-shoulder, helmet-to-helmet strike after Murray threw an interception at the 1:15 mark of the second quarter. Crimson Tide defensive back Ha-Sean Clinton-Dix was in the midst of a 35-yard return when the 304-pound Dial left his feet and made contact with the side of Murray’s helmet toward the end of the play. Murray was out of the play and not in position to make the tackle.
McGarity said he was “stunned” when he saw the replay of the Dial’s hit — he missed it during live-game-action — and immediately moved to make sure the play was going to be reviewed.
“I actually didn’t see the hit until I saw it on YouTube (Sunday),” McGarity said of SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. “It is definitely a play we will submit for review, but I’m sure that’s already being done. “I’m anxious to see what (SEC Commissioner Mike Slive) says about it.”
Steve Shaw, the SEC’s coordinator of officials, has already reviewed the play and determined that Saturday’s referees “missed the call.”
“By rule, you can’t hit a defenseless player above the shoulders,” Shaw told The Birmingham News. “What the determination needs to be is was this a defenseless player and was contact initiated above the shoulders? When we go through video review of it, that’s what we’ll have to determine. And then you as you break it down, did he lead with the head or lead with the shoulder? From game action, it was a personal foul regardless of how we break it down frame by frame.”
That would not have changed the ultimate outcome of the play. Alabama would have retained possession as the personal foul would have occurred well after the interception. But it would have backed it up 15 yards from the point of contact, which was near midfield.
Above-the-shoulders hits and “targeting” defenseless players have been a point of emphasis for the SEC this season and for all of football as the dangers of concussions have become better known. Slive suspended two players — Ole Miss defensive back Trae Elston and South Carolina safety D.J. Swearinger – for one game each for such hits earlier this season. Dial will face the same fate, and the Crimson Tide’s next game is the BCS national championship.
NCAA rules mandate that conference offices review any flagrant personal foul or targeting for possible future punishment, whether a penalty was called on the field or not.
“We do want to stand up for our players when they are in serious danger of being injured,” McGarity said. “This is a case where it could have had serious implications on Aaron, not only in that game but in future games.”
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1,117 comments Add your comment
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=whining+crybabies+football&num=10&hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1024&bih=627&tbm=isch&tbnid=GucIdNed1G4QYM:&imgrefurl=http://www.huskguys.com/2012/11/are-penn-state-players-and-fans-biggest.html&docid=O_KUYkrzLgzKbM&imgurl=http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/cry-baby.jpg&w=800&h=533&ei=ghW9UP-qJuXh0gHlw4CgDw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=5&sig=102683895340673149551&page=1&tbnh=133&tbnw=200&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0,i:104&tx=124&ty=87
Georgia fans and their coaches asw well as their administration.
GTBob
December 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
Murray maned up and played a game that your QB is not capable of playing now or ever
Nah, our QB is fully capable of a losing performance.
Bammer
December 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
If he didn’t want to get hit then run to the other side of the field…you know…where the UGA sideline was. He ended up three yards away from the tackle…yet the Mutts say he was no where near the action.
There will be no suspension. Enjoy Orlando.
ga gator
December 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
Hit to McCarron was a late hit to the head of a QB who just threw the ball. Hit to Murray was a hit to the head of a potential tackler. If it was not a hit to the head, it would have been a clean hit; BUT because it was to the head it was illegal that the refs missed.
CHDawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:14 pm
Bob, just get your neighbor to hit you in the head with a baseball bat when you aren’t looking. Then you will understand.
Alabama Dawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:15 pm
The game was one for the ages. Yes, Alabama pulled it out in the end by deflecting the last second pass. That being said, the officiating was way past HORRIBLE. As far as the eye poke,that was uncalled for and he should have been ejected from the game. By the way, I am a Dawg Fan tried and true. But, there was a penalty on a GA. player for shoving a Tide player after he got hit first after the play was over. It is always the person who retaliates who gets the flag. Always has been, always will be.
There should have been refs from another conference calling this game. These SEC officials are SCARED of Nick Saban plain and simple. Lets see, there were 2 penalties called on Alabama and about 15 on Georgia, yep that’s fair!!!!!!!!!!
By the way BombasticBammerHammer, the ball did hit the ground as your player was trying to catch it off the tip. Why do you think it took the replay official over 5 minutes to look at all the angles. Even the CBS announcers said it hit the ground as it was between his forearms. That is one thing college has over the NFL. They have a different replay official rather than the Umpire on the field. When the umpire on the field goes under the hood to look at the replay most chances are he is NOT going to come out and say “I was WRONG” and overturn the call.
There was blatant holding on the touchdown throw from AJ in the 4th quarter that got you the win. I definitely give you credit. Your two backs ran all over our Dawgs. I hate to admit that because I really can’t stand T.J. Yeldon from Daphne. I’m from Foley which gave you Julio, Robert Lester, DJ Fluker, and the defensive lineman that we had this year who has already committed to Alabama. Heck, Yeldon originally said he was going to Auburn, then suddenly changed his commitment to Alabama at the end. Must have been all that money that Nick has?????????
Bama Boy
December 3rd, 2012
4:15 pm
The thing in Alabama is anything goes, and even your sister is a target. The hit on the Georgia QB was not right, but Alabama is a worm hole of a state, and like the KKK we are who we are here. If not for the Tide we would be just like our friends to the West. Add to that, we are an angry people who harbor ill feelings for one another, and you have a mess over here. Sure Saban’s work helps us cope, but we are a weak people who cannot love properly and stand tall for ourselves and others. Most Alabama people are raised this way except a very few. In a state of say 6 million we have like a million educated, and even some of those are very back woods in their beliefs.
God already came here once in a big way, and I am sure he will get our attention over here again.
I personally am sorry for the low blow actions of our head hunter # 90 Dial. Maybe this will help him and others understand the true meaning of life, as well the swing of life. By the way, ever goof off old boy here has a Bible, but they cannot read too well.
This is who we are. RTR
GTBob
December 3rd, 2012
4:15 pm
The difference was that Ogeltree’s hit was legal.
Not really. It was unnecessary roughness and has been called in other games when linebackers pretend to be professional wrestlers. It was more illegal then the hit on Murray.
Personal Foul
December 3rd, 2012
4:16 pm
I saw three clear personal fouls. The helmet to helmet late hit on McCarron. The eye poke by Sheldon Dawson and the helmet to helmet contact by Dial on Murray. He initially made contact with the crown of his helmet- that’s the only reason this is a foul. He was drifting toward the tackle which was made 5 yards from him just after the block after a long return – so he was not defenseless – read the NCAA rulebook. All three should have been 15 yard penalties. They got the one on McCarron right, they missed the one on Dial, and they not only missed the one on Dawson they gave Alabama a penalty for pushing the eye-pokers hand out of his eye. This one was the worst call of the game. After the clear intentional eye poke both players lightly pushed each others arms and for some reason ?? they called a PF on Milner.
So in case you can’t add, the total penalty yards combined for these three plays should have been 30-15 against georgia. Instead it was 30-15 against Bama.
Please don’t comment to this unless you have watched the video of all three incidents and know the NCAA rules as I have and did
Bammer
December 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
Alabama Dawg you left your tinfoil hat at the GA Dome. When you go pick it up please tell Eddie Lacy he can stop running now.
Bama
December 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
Maybe y ou guys should play two hand touch.But no 9 hit ga tech player picked him up and dorve him head first into ground no call was made , announcers said what a great hit it was.Alabama did the same thing aganist Missouri and was called for personal foul and announcers said they should suspend our player.Ga also taunted same plyer no. 45 pointed his finger in the guy face taunting him ,no call.So why arn,t you guys saying something about that.Bunch of cry babies when you lose.I will take my ball and go home,mommy the big bad alabama boys are mean to me.Ha,Ha,Ha
ARdawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
ga gator
Bullsnip
Hit to McCarron was a late hit to the head of a QB who just threw the ball. Hit to Murray was a hit to the head of a potential tackler. If it was not a hit to the head, it would have been a clean hit; BUT because it was to the head it was illegal that the refs missed.”
Ogletree was a very borderline call. It was a shoulder to the chest and he had just released the ball. And in case you missed it, he was flagged for it
GeoffDawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:18 pm
Just No., if the situation was reversed, I would not defend an action that could seriously injure somebody like what we saw from Dial. Some things are more important in life.
Love of meercy
December 3rd, 2012
4:18 pm
Those confounded, blasted, good for nothin UGA fans. Dog-gone you cry babies. Elementary school kids poutin’ all the time. Spoiled little kids. We whooped ya. So take that you sorry losers. Mud in your eye and all that.
We punished you down to the 5 yard line when I crapped my pants! So superior. Can’t you see?
Waa waa waa. – Ernest T
CHDawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:18 pm
Bammer, head to head on a player that wasn’t looking was the problem, and yes, they probably will suspend him for it. They have suspended players for much less than that this year. Usually a receiver who caught a ball and gets hit hard in the head.
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:18 pm
Whiny Crybaby
1. A person who excessively complains about a situation that does not merit the level of crybabyism associated with the situation.
2. A person who goes out of their way to complain about routine situations, making them bigger than what’s called for.
Wise Old Dawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:18 pm
Is there a newspaper in Alabama that these Tide hacks can read and post messages? They do have internet in Alabama, right?
TEXAS DAWG
December 3rd, 2012
4:19 pm
ga gator,
Both the hit on Murray and McCarron would have been legal hits IF the head had not been targeted. The fact that Murray got flattened isn’t the problem (that’s football), it was that he launched at his head.
willie wingate
December 3rd, 2012
4:19 pm
How in the world can anybody question the hit on Murray? It was as vicious and unneccesary as I’ve ever seen; and if it was a Georgia player who hit another player that late, I would agree on severe disciplinary action also.
Talladawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:19 pm
Gosh, Bama fans are ignorant. The stupid comments come too quickly to even address them individually. And, they certainly do not understand rules (or readin’ or ritin’ kind of stuff).
GTBob
December 3rd, 2012
4:19 pm
Just No., if the situation was reversed, I would not defend an action that could seriously injure somebody like what we saw from Dial.
Oh please. UGA fans would be posting replays of the hit on their facebook pages and laughing if it were the other way around. You guys love hard hits until it happens to your guys.
Raster tater
December 3rd, 2012
4:20 pm
Perfectly clean hit, Murrray was on the defense after the pic. Even with four Bama gifts of turnovers Georgia lost. Losers lose people
George
December 3rd, 2012
4:20 pm
Aaron Murray hopefully learned a lesson that he should have learned in high school football. If you throw a pick, you better have your head on a swivel. He was running to the play to make a tackle. Dial will probably be suspended but not many defensive players will pass up on an opportunity to hit the QB in that situation, including the Dawgs.
Second, it was a great game and the Dogs played one helluva game. Don’t whine that it was fixed or the refs didn’t call all the holding calls. That is just bunk. Bama’s OL was just manhandling Georgia’s front 7. It’s all a conspiracy . Right ? This is grown man football, not pee wee league.
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:20 pm
National Crybaby Day
Talladawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:21 pm
Thanks Texas Dawg – explaining it slowly MAY help the less gifted Gators and Bammers.
Bammer
December 3rd, 2012
4:21 pm
Sorry to interrupt your little love-in circle jerk here Wise Old Dawg. Too bad all these other fans love to call you all out on your BS though, huh? Otherwise this blog would be a wonderful, Christian type of place.
Chuck
December 3rd, 2012
4:21 pm
SEC officials missed a call on BAMA?!?!
I am SHOCKED
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 pm
Ha Ha Ha Ha HA HA HA HA
Freaking Georgia even wrote a song about crying from their losses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_%28Cee_Lo_Green_song%29
Bammer
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 pm
Buck Belue thought it was a legal hit. Are ya’ll gonna egg his house now too?
Kdawg66
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 pm
Cool it Bama fans you won the game. A lot of missed calls on both sides. But do you really think the hit on Murray was not a penalty. It has been called the best SEC Championship game ever by many. Let’s join together and bad mouth Notre Dame.
Cliff
December 3rd, 2012
4:22 pm
The officials handed the game to Bama, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. The combination of calls and no-calls in Bama’s favor was obvious, but UGA may be the beneficiary next time.
muffistough
December 3rd, 2012
4:23 pm
Georgia makes cheap shots and plays dirty. I sat there and watch them as they played our team (Not BAMA) a few years back. We were treated HORRIBLY by the people in Georgia. I have never in my life been treated so Horribly by a team we were visiting. People were RUDE and hateful. We arrived the night before and went to a resturant to eat in our TEAM colors and we were turned away. We had things thrown at us as we were driving down the highway by Georgia Fans. As were leaving the game to walk back to our CAR, Georgia fans made rude comments and gestures and they won!! Cry Babies! It was a close game and there were missed calls on both sides
Chuck
December 3rd, 2012
4:23 pm
No, in Alabama they communicate by writing on trees in excrement.
The modern advances provided by the Atlanta market are, literally, a breath of fresh air.
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:23 pm
“Prior to the release of The Lady Killer, American rock band Band of Horses covered the song. They teamed up with the University of Georgia Redcoat Marching Band for their version of the song. Lead singer Ben Bridwell explained, “This began as a very random idea I had on my dad’s patio after we watched our beloved Georgia Bulldog football team get robbed of a win at the hands of the referees and LSU last year. I knew I wanted to pay homage to my favorite team in song but didn’t have any idea how to begin. Once I heard Cee Lo’s “Georgia”, I was immediately smitten and figured that’s as good as any tribute to any state I’ve ever heard. Incorporating the Redcoat marching band was just the icing on the cake! This song is so nostalgic to me as my parents grew up in Atlanta and have so many family members in the great state of Georgia.”
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Losers losers losers
DawgInMontgy
December 3rd, 2012
4:24 pm
Gurley should be suspended.
sowhatnow?
December 3rd, 2012
4:24 pm
If you don’t want to take a hit do like Rambo and turn your back on the play!
Talladawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:24 pm
George, even my Texas Longhorn buddy, who started out the game telling me I was crazy about officals hating UGA, said ‘yeah, y’all are getting hosed by the refs’ in the end.
How can a pass that tips our receiver’s fingers be uncatchable, but a pass out of the endzone, over the Bama receiver’s head be the subject of PI?
BILLY JACK
December 3rd, 2012
4:24 pm
Alabama folks on here are not the classy Alabama people that I know-my Alabama friends told me right after the game it was the dirtiest play they have ever seen.The Alabama folks on this blog never went to Alabama or any other college and they are an embarrasment to good Alabama folks.I never had 1 Alabama person say anything but nice things after the game and me and my wife went to a Alabama tent after the game and complimented Georgia on having a great team.Every team has people like the Alabama folks on this blog and its a shame because I have so many Alabama friends and they are very classy and I have known them all my life.Its like something I heard on the radio from a station out of Birmingham if Alabama is no 1 then Georgia has to be no 2.Also appreciate your coach and all the classy remarks he made about Georgia-I will be pulling for Alabama regardless of the Alabama fans that live on the Georgia blogs and spew lies and filth and are nothing but white trash.
George
December 3rd, 2012
4:25 pm
@ Personal Foul……. You are absolutley correct with your statements. They dog fans will not see it that way.
Talladawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:26 pm
CLiff, You would think but I have waited 5 or 6 years and it has not yet been UGa’s time to get more than an odd call here or there.
CHDawg
December 3rd, 2012
4:28 pm
The kids from Bama here are confusing the outcome of the game with the cheap shot on Murray. If Georgia had won 48-0, that was still one of the worst and most dangerous cheap shots I have ever seen. To be fair, I think they have a point on Dawson. Sit him out, too, if an investigation shows he was eye-gouging 28. 28 did provoke the attack, but that doesn’t excuse eye-gouging! Also, they should suspend players who commit chop blocks for one game. Sort of like the helmet rule. You chop block resulting in an injury, you are suspended for a game. Ogletree’s hit was just a penalty, as was Millner’s foul on Dawson that provoked the face shove/potential eye-gouge. They should both play, despite their fouls.
Chuck
December 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
It’s funny, the announcers mentioned all of the personal foul penalties over the years, while Bama has so few.
And now, with the official immediately behind that play happily swallowing his flag, we know why.
deez
December 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
this is just one of the calls we didnt get….hats off to bama for a good game but man the refs were on only one side that game. Bama 1 UGA 2 notre dame 7th.
HYPOCRITEDAWGS
December 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
Hey Talladawg
Dude you better count em again it’s been 30+ years and guess what ? It’s gonna be 30+ more
George
December 3rd, 2012
4:30 pm
@ Talladawg…… Coming from a Texas fan, that should make you feel better. They are still pissed off that we hurt McCoy. I reckon that was a dirty play also ?
Georgia Tiger
December 3rd, 2012
4:30 pm
The first time I won’t be pulling for a SEC team.
GEAUX IRISH! BUCK FAMA!
Joking?
December 3rd, 2012
4:31 pm
The AD for Georgia is just putting a taint a well played game. Dial led with his shoulder and if you look the ball carrier is only a few yards away what if Dial had not blocked him and he ultimately made the tackle. It was a very hard hit, but a suspension, you gotta be kidding? Georgia cannot be happy, they have to show their real colors.
Look of fear in Murray's eyes right before the hit
December 3rd, 2012
4:32 pm
Looks like he got hit by an elephant!
Ugared
December 3rd, 2012
4:33 pm
Difference between AJ and Aaron was AJ whined for the flag. I see the bandwagon tide fans on here are running rampant as usual. Typical. Almost as bad as tech fans . Which is why I don’t usually read the posts on here. It’s like a dumpster .
King Here-Chuck Oliver
December 3rd, 2012
4:34 pm
UGA 21-BAMA-10 with 6:15 min left in the 3rd.
UGA BLEW LIKE THE BAMMER @ KRYSTALS.
LOL-GO TECH AND UGA FANS ARE BABIES.
KING HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!