The USC Trojans played one of the more exciting games of the 2011 college football season when they took the No. 4 Stanford Cardinal to three overtime periods before finally falling 56-48 on Saturday. In the aftermath of the game, head coach Lane Kiffin has been fined $10,000 by the Pac-12 and safety T.J. McDonald has been suspended for the first half of the Colorado game, according to Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.
Kiffin's fine stems from his words after the game about the officiating. The Trojans hoped to call timeout near the end of regulation to try a game-winning field goal but weren't able to after receiver Robert Woods ran out of bounds following a catch. The Pac-12 stated that coaches are not allowed to make public comments about officiating while announcing the $10,000 penalty for Kiffin.
Meanwhile, McDonald has been suspended for one half of play by the Pac-12 due to his hard hit on a "defenseless" receiver in the fourth quarter of the Stanford game. The hit on Stanford's Chris Owusu extended Stanford's game-tying drive and allowed the Cardinal to eventually even the score at 34-34 by the end of regulation. McDonald will miss the first half of USC's game against Colorado for the hit after repeated warnings by the Pac-12 about hits above the shoulder on defenseless receivers.
USC plays Colorado on Friday night at 6:00 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN 3D.