By: Flint Harris        Follow Flint on Twitter, Join us on Facebook

It is proven fact, well not proven like scientists prove it but you get the point, that SEC fans are the most passionate in the country. SEC fans have learned to love or hate, or both, the referees in the SEC. Today we take a look at what we know about each of them.

It is vital that I preface a couple of things. First off, I am not a conspiracy theory guy so I do not think a referee is ‘out to get’ a team or that the ‘SEC is protecting fill in the blank team’. Secondly, and most importantly, I do not think referees cause a team to lose a game. Football games have well over one hundred plays, so one call does not determine the game. I will say the margin of error for underdogs can be small, so a bad call at the wrong time may effect them more. However, the reason the margin for error is small is because one team is not as good as another. That is not the referees fault.

While all of the guys in stripes are called referees, only the man wearing the white hat is referred to as the referee by the crew of officials. These are the guys standing behind the quarterback and alerting the audience of penalties and reviews. The SEC currently has seven referees we see on a consistent basis.

Marc Curles is a Georgia Tech graduate who works for Bridgeworth Financial LLC in the Birmingham area during the week. On Saturdays the former Sigma Chi is doing his best not to rile up fans across the South. Curles and his crew were suspended following the bogus personal foul penalty on Arkansas’ Malcolm Sheppard at Florida in October 2009. Once he saw the tape, Curles said “Quite frankly, I knew that I had made a mistake.” Two weeks later the same crew called a personal foul penalty against Georgia in the LSU game at Georgia for a celebration penalty the SEC office later acknowledged should not have been called. After this second gaffe, the SEC suspended the crew for two weeks, of which one was an off week. Curles is in his seventh year in the SEC. He has likely worked close to 70 games and two calls are what people remember. Curles also said, “I understand people are passionate about their teams, we sign up for this.”

Tom Ritter has called two of the last four SEC championship games. He is clearly well-thought of by his superiors, but LSU and Arkansas fans remember him for other reasons. Ritter declared Patrick Peterson did not make this interception in this video. It was revealed after the game that in 2009 the SEC was not using high definition for replays. This was rectified in 2010. However, HD or not, this call was missed. Ritter even has a Facebook page ‘devoted‘ to him.

While Arkansas ended up cruising to a 41-20 win at South Carolina, Ritter’s call that Stephen Garcia passed this ball and did not fumble it irked Bobby Petrino. Arkansas fans enjoy this video as Petrino clearly says “Look my players in the eye!”

Matt Moore called the 2010 SEC championship game, but has been at the forefront of a few close calls in 2010. First, Moore awarded Auburn a first down even though this picture appears to show the Tigers are inches short after a fourth down play. Moore also ruled that South Carolina did not deserve a final play agaisnt Auburn early this season. A ruling the SEC office agreed with, but Steve Spurrier and South Carolina fans did not. Chuck Dunlap from the SEC office released this after the game: Statement regarding end of SC/AU game: According to rule 3.3.2e, when a team is awarded a first down, the game clock is stopped when the covering official gives the timeout signal. Based on review, the covering official followed proper procedure.

Matt Austin called the 2009 SEC championship game. The Louisville, Kentucky resident was at the forefront of a controversy as Alabama’s Terrance Cody blocked a Tennessee field goal attempt on the final play of 12-10 Tide victory. Cody removed his helmet, but as SEC administrator Charles Bloom reported the day after the game, “The foul for taking helmet off is a live ball foul treated as a dead-ball foul. That is, if it happens on a play where time does not expire then the penalty is enforced on the following play. However since the clock ran out on that play, then there is no next play, so there is no penalty to mark off.”

Hubert Owens first game as an SEC referee was in 2007. The former Mississippi Valley State football player is yet to call an SEC championship game, but even better he is yet to have a moment that we highlight with a picture or video about an egregious call.

Ken Williamson is a relatively fresh face in the SEC officiating world. Williamson worked the Auburn game at Arkansas and Kentucky’s visit to LSU this year While some Auburn fans were not thrilled with him, Williamson too has avoided the catastrophic error. The same cannot be said for our final referee.

Penn Wagers. Oh Penn Wagers. Florida fielded a punt at the Swamp and then the punt returner, Brandon James, got crushed. Everything was fine. How do you call kick catch interference when the punt returner catches the ball cleanly? Penn Wagers’ crew did. I had my eye on Penn and his crew after that. I thought Tommy Tuberville’s head was going to pop off. Enjoy this video:

Last year at Auburn, Arkansas fans felt jilted on two separate calls. Both involved touchdowns. One included Mario Fannin’s touchdown and the other a Broderick Green fumble returned by Zac Etheridge for a touchdown. This spoof video is entertaining.

Just last week Wagers called running into the kicker as Mississippi State bombarded the South Carolina punter. Not sure what roughing the kicker looks like if this is not it. Wagers called a personal foul penalty against Razorback Tony Bua in the 2003 Florida game for a late hit that was helmet to helmet. Replay showed it was neither. The 33-28 game was sealed with that call. Wagers incorrectly gave Tennessee more time in their 2004 Florida game with Tennessee and Alabama, during a last second win over Arkansas in 2007, entirely too much time after the clock should have been started following a penalty in one game and an unneeded measurement in the other. Those are mechanics of officiating and not judgement. These are the most frustrating. Alas, Hog fans will not forget the penalty on George Wilson bringing back a long touchdown run in a 10-3 loss to Auburn in 2003. Truth is, Arkansas never should have let that game be so close. Wagers once said, “We’re all human beings, and anytime that you have a human aspect in a game, we can make a mistake and we hate it. We have to be perfect to start off with and then we have to get better. If I walk out on that football field and nobody knew I was ever there, then I’ve done my job.” It seems far too often Wagers is remembered rather than forgotten.

Before we bid adieu, I looked at the crews for the last seven SEC championship games because those are the best officials as graded by their bosses. Steve Shaw (the current coordinator of SEC officials), Rocky Goode, and Steve Landis all called one game, but are no longer in the SEC. Tom Ritter called two and Matt Austin and Matt Moore both called one. As far as individual positions with officials still calling SEC games, the best umpire with this data is Wilbur Hackett, the best linesmen are Johnny Crawford and Gus Morris, the best line judge is Terry Walters, the best back judges are Stan Murray and Dale Keneipp, the best field judge is Brad Freeman, and the best side judges are Chris Conley and Bobby Moreau.

Am I missing an egregious call from an SEC ref? I know I am so tell me on Twitter.

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One Response to “Love them or hate them, SEC referees familiar with controversy”

1. Davdi says:

   January 1, 2012 at 1:18 pm

   I don’t care, none of these referees will ever be close to as good as Jimmy Harper and Steve Shaw were. They are the platinum standard to which all other college football officials should be measured.

   Reply