Ole Miss has been fined $350,000 by the SEC after fans stormed the field following the team’s monumental 28-10 win over the Georgia Bulldogs.
This is Ole Miss’ second offense of violating the SEC’s field-storming policy in the last two seasons. Ole Miss was fined $100,000 last season after defeating LSU and storming the field at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The fine for a second infraction is typically $250,000, but the SEC has levied an additional $100,000 fine against Ole Miss after fans prematurely stormed the field with 16 seconds left following a turnover on downs by Georgia.
The fine for a third offense would be $500,000.
The SEC’s field-storming policy states the following:
“Institutions shall limit access to competition areas to participating student-athletes, coaches, officials, support personnel and property credentialed or authorized individuals at all times. For the safety of participants and spectators alike, at no time before, during or after a contest may spectators enter the competition area.”
“It might be two fines, Keith, because they actually stormed (the field) twice,” Ole Miss Head Coach Lane Kiffin said in a press conference, directing his comment to Vice Chancellor of Intercollegiate Athletics Keith Carter. “And that money goes to Georgia because we got LSU’s money.”
The rule for field-storming in the SEC states that the team who storms the field must pay its fine to the opposing team — in this case, Georgia. In his answer, Kiffin was referencing LSU’s overtime win over Ole Miss in Baton Rouge on Oct. 12, after which Tiger fans stormed the field. Since it was LSU’s second offense, the SEC levied a $250,000 fine.
Kiffin praised Ole Miss fans for how they showed up during the Georgia game.
“I remember in warmups in Georgia (last year) I’m like, ‘Man, I wish our place was like that in warmups’ … Today, I felt the exact same way,” Kiffin said in his postgame press conference. “We were in warm ups, they were playing videos, the crowd was into it on the introductions of guys and stuff, and I look up, it’s still whatever, 25, 30 minutes till the game. So it was really cool to have that. And it’s great for the players.”
