SEC assesses $75,000 penalty against Ole Miss after fans throw items onto field vs. LSU

The SEC has announced a financial penalty against Ole Miss after fans threw items onto the field during last week’s game against LSU, the conference announced Wednesday. Fans were unhappy with a call during the fourth quarter and threw debris onto the field.

Ole Miss will lose $75,000 from its share of the SEC’s revenue distribution and will have to fulfill other requirements outlined by the league. Those include finding the people responsible for throwing objects on the field through “all available resources,” reviewing and updating the school’s game management procedures, and providing a report to the conference office once those efforts are completed.

“The disruption and delay of Saturday night’s game must never be part of any SEC event,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement. “These actions are consistent with the oversight assigned by the membership to the SEC office, including the financial penalty and mandated reviews.”

The SEC has a policy about bottles or other items being thrown on the field and what the punishment could entail if that occurs.

“If cans or plastic bottles are used as projectiles or otherwise cause game management issues, the institution is subject to an immediate fine and suspension of the alcohol sales privilege,” it reads.

Ole Miss is not suspending alcohol service at Vaught Hemingway Stadium, but the conference said the school has the right to do so.

The call in question was a 34-yard touchdown catch from Brian Thomas Jr. Thomas caught the ball in the corner of the end zone and clearly got his left foot down but bobbled the ball. It looked as if he didn’t have clear possession, but officials disagreed as the original ruling of a touchdown stood and LSU increased its lead to 49-40.

Fans began to throw trash from the stands toward the Tigers sidelines as beer cans and water bottles were seen on the field.

Tigers coach Brian Kelly voiced his frustrations to officials about the behavior from fans and an announcement was made in the stadium warning them to stop.

With that behind them, the Ole Miss offense got to work in mounting its comeback. The Rebels seemed unfazed by the call that occurred just moments earlier, as they marched 65 yards downfield to answer with a touchdown of their own to make it 49-47 with five minutes remaining.

They then got the ball back as the defense forced the Tigers to punt.

Ole Miss ran some time off the clock early before leaning on quarterback Jaxson Dart the rest of the way. Dart completed all three of his passes on that final drive, including what was ultimately a game-winning 13-yard connection with Tre Harris with 39 seconds remaining.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.