Arizona State football may have gotten away with a cheap fine from Big 12 compared to SEC

The Big 12 Conference slapped Arizona State with a $25,000 fine Monday for failing to keep fans from storming the field Saturday at Mountain America Stadium with a second remaining in a chaotic 28-23 victory over BYU Saturday.

The Sun Devils might have gotten off cheap.

The SEC imposed a combined total of $300,000 on the Oklahoma Sooners and Auburn Tigers because of similar celebrations following their upset wins Saturday.

The Sooners were fined $100,000 for failing to keep their fans from rushing onto the field with 28 seconds still to play against Alabama. The field had to be cleared to finish the game, then the fans rushed on again – resulting in another $100,000 for violation of the SEC’s “access to competition area” policy. Auburn was fined $100,000 for the same offense when fans celebrated a victory over Texas A&M.

As at Oklahoma, the field had to be cleared at ASU to play the final second of the game, causing a 14-minute delay. BYU’s Hail Mary pass was ruled incomplete.

“We found out there’s still a play under review,” Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said on Arizona Sports’ the Bickley and Marotta Show Tuesday. “We got to be able to manage the crowd. I thought our team did the best job they could, given the situation, of helping everybody understand the situation, getting everybody off the field so we could finish the game and respect the competitive integrity of it.

“A lot going on … just wanted coach to be focusing on, ‘Hey, we’ll handle what the call was later. Let’s get this team ready to go, close this thing out and be able to celebrate.’”

In announcing the fine, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said in a news release Tuesday that the safety of athletes is “our foremost priority.”

“We will continue to work with our institutions on event management policies…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/arizona-state-football-may-gotten-042432585.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2024-11-27 04:24:00

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