The officiating crew from Saturday’s Arkansas at Florida football game was suspended Wednesday by the Southeastern Conference. The suspension begins with their next scheduled assignment, which is Oct. 31. The crew will not return to work until Nov. 14, according to SEC commissioner Mike Slive.

“A series of calls that have occurred during the last several weeks have not been to the standard that we expect from our officiating crews,” said Slive. “I believe our officiating program is the best in the country, however, there are times when these actions must be taken.”

The most disputed call in No. 1 Florida’ s 23-20 victory on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., was a personal foul for a late hit by Arkansas defensive lineman Malcolm Sheppard that the league said Monday should not have been called. That play helped advance a drive Florida used to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

Even the Florida player who was involved in that play was puzzled by the call.

“I didn’t think that was a penalty,” offensive lineman Malcolm Gilbert said Tuesday. “It was just two guys going hard. I was trying to make a play, pick up some blocks down field. I don’t remember (him saying) anything.”

Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino questioned a handful of other calls.

According to game reports from Florida and Georgia, this is the same crew that two weeks earlier made controversial unsportsmanlike conduct calls at the end of the LSU-Georgia game in Athens, Ga. One of those calls also was later deemed erroneous by SEC officials supervisor Rogers Redding.

The officials who worked those games according to the school game reports: referee Marc Curles, umpire Ronnie Jones, linesman W.Randall Kizer; line judge Michael Shirley, back judge Michael Watson, field judge Greg Thomas, side judge Jess Dupuy.

“While only a few calls have been identified, the entire crew shoulders responsibility for each play. I have taken this action because there must be accountability in our officiating program,” added Slive. “Our institutions expect the highest level of officiating in all of our sports and it is the duty of the conference office to uphold that expectation.”

The SEC statement also said the suspension will impact this crew’s eligibility for bowl game assignments.

Speaking on the weekly SEC coaches news media teleconference before the announcement, Petrino said of the calls, “We tried to turn the page on Monday night when we were out working out and running and getting the soreness out. We have to forget about the Florida game and we have and we’ve moved on to our preparation (for the next game).. .. That’s part of football. One thing that I always try to talk to our players about, it’s not what happens to you in life, it’s how you deal with it. We have to deal with it properly.”

When asked about the crew having worked both his Florida game and the Georgia-LSU game, Petrino replied, ” I didn’t even know it was the same crew (that worked LSU-Georgia).”

Contributing: Thomas O’Toole; David Jones, Florida Today

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