FAYETTEVILLE — Bobby Petrino was reprimanded by the Southeastern Conference on Thursday night for comments he made earlier in the week concerning the officiating crew assigned to the Arkansas-Florida game.
The news came on the heels of the officials’ suspension as a crew by the SEC on Wednesday.
Associate commissioner Charles Bloom said he believes the reprimand stemmed from comments Petrino made on his television show Sunday. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive issued a statement Thursday night, saying Petrino violated the SEC’s code of ethics.
“SEC Bylaw 10.5.4 clearly states that coaches, players and support personnel shall refrain from all public criticism of officials,” Slive said.
Petrino questioned a no-call on a possible late hit out-of-bounds, when Dennis Johnson broke a 25-yard run late in the third quarter. Petrino explained the play during a segment on his show.
“When they hit you when you’re on the white, it’s supposed to be a late hit, a 15-yard penalty,” Petrino said, rewinding the clip and playing it again. “Unfortunately, in Florida, they don’t call it that way.”
Petrino questioned the officials on two occasions during the show.
“It’s unfortunate that the fourth quarter there’s probably three plays that the officials made the difference in the game,” Petrino said later during the broadcast.
The officiating crew made a controversial decision on Arkansas defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard in the fourth quarter of the Razorbacks’ 23-20 loss to the top-ranked Gators. Sheppard was flagged for a personal foul penalty, but a video review conducted by the SEC revealed “no evidence” to support the official’s decision.
Referee Marc Curles, who threw the flag, admitted to only seeing the play “out of the corner of my eye,” and said he made a mistake, in an interview Wednesday with ESPN.com. Curles’ crew was the same one that made a controversial unsportsmanlike call in the LSU-Georgia game on Oct. 3. The SEC said the penalty should not have been called after a video review following the game.
Florida coach Urban Meyer said he was OK with the Slive’s decision to suspend the officiating crew, which was removed from an Oct. 31 game and will not work again as a group until Nov. 14.
“If that's the right thing to do, then they did it,” Meyer said Thursday, according to The Associated Press. “I don’t know all the ins and outs ... [but] I have great confidence in the head dog.”
Petrino wouldn’t comment on the officials specifically during a Monday press conference, a day after he criticized the officials on his show.
“Everyone here knows that the First Amendment, when it comes to football coaches talking about officials, does not apply,” Petrino said.
Talk of the officiating dwindled Tuesday, and Petrino said Wednesday the team had focused on Ole Miss by the time the officials were suspended.
“Obviously the guys were really down on Monday,” Petrino said of his team Thursday, hours before the SEC announced the coach had been reprimanded. “We put it behind us.”