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Greg Sankey releases statement on Kirby Smart, Michael Van Buren shoving incident
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Greg Sankey has released a statement regarding a moment between Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Mississippi State quarterback Michael Van Buren.
During the Georgia-Mississippi State game on Saturday, Smart appeared to shove Van Buren as he was attempting to talk to someone on the Georgia sideline. Smart said in his press conference on Monday that he didn’t realize what he had done at the time, but that he has since reached out to Van Buren and Mississippi State coach Jeff Lebby to apologize.
Sankey acknowledged in a statement on Monday that Smart should have been penalized on the field for making contact with an opposing player. However, he said Smart and Georgia will face no further discipline as he’s “confident the contact was not intentional.”
Here’s the statement from the SEC commissioner:
“Coaches cannot make contact with an opposing player. This play should have resulted in enforcement of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. As Kirby discussed in his press conference today, he has appropriately reached out to Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby and quarterback Michael Van Buren. I am confident the contact was not intentional and the clear expectation is this conduct will not happen again.”
Smart and the Bulldogs went on to win 41-31 over Mississippi State.
With no punishment coming from the league office, it appears this will be the last official statement from any party on the Smart-Van Buren shoving incident.
Georgia will play at Texas in Week 8. Mississippi State is scheduled to host Texas A&M on Saturday.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
