Per Saban, LaMichael Fanning has written letters of apology to Missouri player and coach for hit that netted personal foul late in the game.
— Cecil Hurt (@CecilHurt) October 15, 2012
Here's the play:
I mean, I appreciate both the technical form on the suplex and the fact that he apologized, but I'm going to assume he still faces a suspension for that one.
Meanwhile, the KC Star's Terez Paylor noticed something else about the play: the retaliation.
Had Missouri’s players left it there, it would have set a terrible precedent on film. Other teams would have watched the tape and decided that the Tigers don’t defend their own, and would try to bully them the rest of the way, especially given the Tigers' 0-4 SEC record. It would have been ugly, I promise you.
Fortunately for MU, its interior line stepped up to dish out what I call "street justice" on the Tigers' next two plays. On the next play, center Brad McNulty and left guard Evan Boehm double team and drive Fanning back seven yards off the ball before eventually throwing him down after the whistle.
Fanning dusted himself off and appeared to say something to the referee, who smiled and mouthed something back to him. The very next play went even worse for Fanning, as he got bulldozed off the line of scrimmage by junior guard Max Copeland (knowing Max, no one was more ticked off at Fanning’s suplex of Hansbrough than he).
Copeland quickly pancaked Fanning and proceeded to "engage" him on the ground, and right tackle Justin Britt came over to do something to Fanning as well. It’s hard to see if there were any extracurriculars because their backs are to the camera, but if there were - we did see Fanning's helmet come off - and the refs swallowed their whistles, that just confirms something I think Missouri and its fans have already learned: The SEC is a man’s league. Fanning brought that on himself, and the refs weren’t going to bail him out.