ATHENS - Alabama handed down punishment, it said Thursday night, for a post-game incident between an unnamed Crimson Tide fan and Georgia football LB Raylen Wilson after the Dawgs' 20-17 win over Bama Saturday night.
"Alabama has identified and taken appropriate action against the individual involved in videos circulating on social media following Saturday night's football game," statement released to the Tuscaloosa News from Alabama reads. "We take matters of this nature seriously and will not tolerate this behavior.”
The individual involved, as Alabama descirbes him, walked down rows of seats to get to the final row before the field. At that time, Wilson approached the fan with the assumption he was a Georgia fan celebrating the win. Several UGA fans gathered near the Dawgs’ entrance to their locker room to celebrate the 20-17 win.
“You want people to make good decisions and do things the right way, and Raylen certainly did there,” Georgia football coach Kirby Smart said Monday after the game. “But there's so much that goes into that. He thought it was a Georgia fan - probably helped him react the way he did initially, you know? It's disappointing behavior by any fan and certainly nothing we condone, and I'm sure Alabama doesn't condone it either.”
On the field after the game a small amount of drinks and debris was thrown at Georgia players as they exited the field. Only three in SEC play in this century has there been a noticeable amount of garbage thrown on the field of play during or after a UGA game.
"Let's go boy. Let's go boy," the Alabama fans says as he slaps Wilson in the head twice. "Get the f*&^ out of here."
Alabama fan to Georgia LB Raylen Wilson
In 2007 at Alabama, Matthew Stafford’s game-winning throw in overtime ended with Georgia players celebrating in the end zone. As that happened drinks rained down on the Bulldogs from the end zone section at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Two years ago, Texas fans poured trash onto the field in what became a dangerous situation when a call did not go the Horns’ way. Officials stopped the game, and reversed the call - making Smart question the decision.
“We have a precedent that if you throw a bunch of stuff on the field and endanger athletes, that you've got a chance to get your call reversed,” Smart said just after knocking off No. 1 Texas in Austin.
Texas issued an apology, and the SEC issued a statement following the game:
“While the original evaluation and assessment of the penalty was not properly executed, it is unacceptable to have debris thrown on the field at any time,” the SEC’s statement read.
The Horns were fined $250,000 by the league office. There has been no announcement of punishment to the Tide from the SEC as a result of Saturday night in Tuscaloosa. However, Alabama’s said in a statement to the Tuscaloosa News Thursday night that it was still gathering the facts around the behavior.
"We are disappointed by the unacceptable behavior exhibited by some of the game's attendees Saturday night and are in the process of gathering information," a University of Alabama spokesman said in a statement to that outlet. “Alabama takes matters of fan conduct seriously and expects everyone at our events to demonstrate respect to the student-athletes, coaches, staff, officials and visitors. Such conduct will not be tolerated."
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