Just In: SEC Fines Tennessee For Chaotic Ending Against Ole Miss

Tennessee has been fined for the action of a few hundred fans from Saturday night's game against Ole Miss. 

After the Vols picked up what appeared to be a crucial fourth and long, Jacob Warren was ruled short of the marker by an official who was 20 yards behind the play. Certain Tennessee fans proceeded to litter the field with water bottles, mustard, and anything that could be thrown. Lane Kiffin was even seen holding golf ball that was thrown at him. This caused an 18-minute delay and the SEC has now fined Tennessee $250,000 for this. Below is a portion of Greg Sankey's statement.

"The disruption of Saturday night's game is unacceptable and cannot be repeated on any SEC campus," said SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. "Today's actions are consistent with the oversight assigned by the membership to the SEC office, including the financial penalty and review of alcohol availability. We will use this opportunity to reemphasize to each SEC member the importance of providing a safe environment even with the intensity of competition that occurs every week. We will also reengage our membership in further review of the alcohol availability policy to consider additional measures for the sale and management of alcohol while providing the appropriate environment for collegiate competition."

Under the sportsmanship, game management and alcohol availability policies established by the Southeastern Conference, the University of Tennessee will:

• Be assessed a financial penalty of $250,000, which will be deducted from the University's share of SEC revenue distribution.
• Be required to use all available resources, including security, stadium and television video, to identify individuals who threw objects on to the playing field or at the opposing team. All individuals identified as having been involved in disrupting the game shall be prohibited from attending Tennessee Athletics events for the remainder of the 2021-22 academic and athletic year.
• Review and update its Athletics Department game management procedures and alcohol availability policies to prevent a recurrence of Saturday night's disruption, which shall include an evaluation of agreed upon SEC Sportsmanship, Game Management and Alcohol policies to verify full compliance with existing standards.
• Following completion of this review and prior to the University of Tennessee's next home football game, the University shall provide a report to the Conference Office to summarize its efforts to identify and penalize offenders and its plan to enact policies to prevent future similar incidents while ensuring compliance with Conference standards.

Tennessee Athletic's Director Danny White Also issued a statement. 

“I was in communication with Commissioner Sankey throughout the weekend, and we discussed a variety of things that took place Saturday night," White said in a press release from Tennessee. "As I stated after the game, the actions that led to the temporary stoppage of play were unacceptable. The conduct of a small percentage of fans has led to unfortunate consequences on multiple fronts. While I don’t believe that conduct is representative of the Tennessee fanbase as a whole, I understand this imperative action by the league. Safety is paramount. Some elements of what the league office has instructed were already in motion, as a review of in-venue video began this weekend. Internally—and in collaboration with our campus partners—we’ll continue to evaluate accountability measures and develop an action and education plan for future games.”