Sports - Colleges - Mississippi State

Monday, Oct. 26, 2009

SEC slaps Mullen with public reprimand

On Sunday, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen decided he’d had enough and that he couldn’t take it anymore.

On Monday, the SEC office said he would.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive issued a public reprimand of the Bulldogs’ first-year coach after Mullen questioned the competence, not to mention the mere presence, of SEC replay official Dan Dembenski in Saturday night’s game between State and No. 1-ranked Florida.

“I don’t know why we even have replay in the Southeastern Conference if they’re not going to utilize it,” Mullen said in his Sunday teleconference. “That’s twice that they’ve blown calls on the replay with our games, resulting in big plays and I think that’s inexcusable for (Dembenski). I mean, I hope he is severely punished, if he ever works another SEC game again, because I think it is completely unacceptable.”

Instead, Slive thought Mullen’s commentary was unacceptable, citing SEC Bylaw 10.5.4, which “clearly states that coaches, players and support personel shall refrain of all public criticism of officials.”

“Coach Mullen has violated the SEC Code of Ethics,” Slive said.

Mullen wasn’t available for comment after the SEC issued its reprimand, but during his weekly press conference Monday, he tried to turn the attention to the Bulldogs’ SEC game against Kentucky on Saturday night in Lexington, Ky.

“I’m really pleased with the attitude this team has,” Mullen said. “We’ve lost four pretty competitive games at home this season against nationally ranked opponents (LSU, Georgia Tech, Houston and Florida). They came out to practice (Sunday) and continued to maintain their focus and had the mentality to improve every day.

“Each individual on this team is trying to make themselves a better football player, and we will, as a team, continue to try and improve ... We have a tough opponent this weekend in Kentucky. They are coming off two big wins, and they’ve been successful over the last couple years.”

Multi-purpose threat Randall Cobb had two touchdowns, including one on a 73-yard punt return, as Kentucky (4-3, 1-3 in the SEC) stopped Louisiana-Monroe 36-13 on Saturday. The Wildcats upset Auburn in their last SEC game, winning 21-14 at Jordan-Hare Stadium. UK coach Rich Brooks’ team is a 3.5-point favorite over State (3-5, 1-4).

“Cobb causes matchup issues for us, because he is a weapon all over the field,” Mullen said.

MSU cornerback Jonathan Banks was named the SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday, after scoring on two interceptions return against Florida. Banks scored on a 100-yard return just before halftime, trimming State’s deficit to 13-10.

“He was a young guy we identified early in camp that has athletic potential and could help us early on,” Mullen said. “The one thing that surprises me is how he is in the right place and the right time.”