Claims of violating NCAA policies on faking injuries will force Texas A&M football to pay $50,000 in fines.
The Southeastern Conference's National Coordinator of Football Officiating said on Tuesday there have been reviews of the video from A&M's October 18th win over Arkansas, and the coordinator is alleging that defensive back Tyreek Chappell dropped to the ground, "creating the appearance of an injury" but it appears that an A&M staffer was signaling to Chappell even as Chappell was not involved in any contact during the play.
A couple of plays later, Chappell was back in the game, the SEC noted in a statement on Tuesday.
The SEC said just before Chappell dropped to the ground, "a Texas A&M staff member can be seen in the video standing in the team area near the 25-yard-line signaling demonstratively to the player, pointing to the ground."
A new rule this year in college football requires the team with the injured player to call a timeout if the player goes to the ground after the ball has been spotted. If the team of an injured player does not have any timeouts, and goes to the ground after the ball has been spotted, a delay of game penalty is issued on the offending team, which results in a five-yard penalty, MSN noted.
A&M head coach Mike Elko was sent a reprimand.
These new rules are said to have caused a decrease in the number of feigned injuries in SEC football compared to a year ago.