Tape-gate rolled into its second day Wednesday, when Alabama coach Nick Saban accused half of the SEC teams of marking its kicks – a day after Steve Spurrier pointed out a piece of white tape he noticed the Crimson Tide using on their field goals and extra points last weekend.
Look, this obviously doesn’t rise to the level of UT coach Lane Kiffin falsely accusing Florida’s Urban Meyer of breaking NCAA recruiting rules last winter.
The penalty for using “any device or material used to mark the spot of a scrimmage place kick” is 5 yards for an illegal kick.
But if it’s against the rules, it’s against the rules – which is why Spurrier called the tape into question Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
Saban’s response: “We’ve done some research on it, and over half the teams in the league do something, whether they put grass there or a piece of mud or whatever it is, so the kicker knows where the ball’s going to be spotted. We even saw verification where last year South Carolina’s kicker did it.”
Ex-USC kicker Ryan Succop said he never used tape to mark a kick. Holder Stephen Flint said he would find a mark in the grass and point to it for Succop, which sounds a lot different than pulling a piece of tape out of your pants and putting it on the turf.
“We’d go out there and there’d be something like that,” said Flint, pointing to a small spot in the grass. “And I’d just put my finger there. Nothing like a piece of tape.”
Spurrier didn’t seem real pleased when asked about Saban’s claim.
“If we did that last year, why didn’t they turn us in if it was illegal?” Spurrier said. “Shoot, I’m available to be turned in for anything if it’s illegal.”