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Georgia WR penalized 15 yards for squirting Tennessee QB with water bottle on sidelines

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Georgia wide receiver George Pickens may get credited with one of the dumbest penalties of the college football season.

In the first half of Saturday’s SEC showdown between No. 14 Tennessee and No. 3 Georgia, Volunteers QB Jarrett Guarantano was knocked into the Bulldogs sideline after picking up 3 yards on a carry. While he was down on the sideline Pickens squirted a water bottle on Guarantano, probably assuming officials wouldn’t see the act.

Pickens was wrong. The result was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Bulldogs, giving Tennessee a 1st down. A few plays later, Guarantano hit Josh Palmer in the corner of the end zone for a 26-yard touchdown pass, giving the Vols a 21-17 advantage.

Pickens is an extremely talented player, already catching 6 passes for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns through the first two games of the season. But he has to be smarter than that, especially when he’s on the sideline.

In such a close game, it could be the difference between a win and a loss for the Dawgs.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB