South Carolina coach Shane Beamer had a final farewell for Mississippi last month as Rebel after Rebel went down on the ground with injuries, some serious, some minor, and created stoppages that slowed things down.

“First of all,” Beamer said after the Gamecocks’ 27-3 loss on Oct. 5. “I certainly hope all those guys are OK.”

Sincere or sarcastic? Who’s to say when Beamer quickly cut himself off and focused postgame comments on other topics. But there’s no doubt he and others around the Southeastern Conference are tired of injury interruptions for players who may or may not be hurt.

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took matters into his own hands with a memo to members last week to knock it off.

“As plainly as it can be stated: Stop any and all activity related to faking injuries to create time-outs,” Sankey wrote in the memo, a copy of which was shared with The Associated Press.

Amen, said LSU coach Brian Kelly, who called the warning shot from Sankey “timely.”

Sankey, Kelly said, was standing out among “people in college football in making it clear that this kind of nonsense, which is a word that was used, needs to stop. It’s silly.”

Sankey’s memo said creating injury timeouts on either side of the ball is “not acceptable and is disrespectful to the game of football.”

There would be financial punishments for transgressors, Sankey reiterated. First offense costs a head coach a $50,000 fine. Get caught a second time and the fine increases to $100,000. A third offense brings the coach a one-game suspension.

Any staff member is subject to the same punishments if found to signal or direct a player to feign an injury. A player cited in such an incident could receive a public reprimand.

All this was laid out to teams before the season, Beamer said. He recalled reading the rules to his coaches and players.

“Here’s the policy in this league, and I ain’t paying the fine,” Beamer told them.

Ole Miss and coach Lane Kiffin have been front and center in the practice. Fans at Williams-Brice Stadium booed loudly back in October whenever a Mississippi player laid out on the field, believing they were play-acting.

Receiver Tre Harris, then leading the SEC in receptions and yardage, got hurt in the first half and did not return. Defensive lineman JJ Pegues, who had two touchdowns on offense for the Rebels, left in the fourth quarter with what appeared to be a shoulder injury. The boos were loud during both stoppages. Both played the following week in a loss at LSU.

Mississippi acknowledged last month the attention it has received for suspected feigned injuries. It said it has “provided relevant medical information” for the SEC to review and will answer questions about recent games.

Kiffin said this week he was glad for Sankey’s crackdown.

“I know some people say, ‘OK, that sounds weird,’ coming from me. We’re a tempo offense,” Kiffin said. “I’ve been saying this for years, OK, that faking an injury hurts us more than anybody — us and Tennessee — probably more than anybody in America.”

gundy apologizes

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy apologized on social media Tuesday, a day after he lashed out at his team’s critics.

Gundy has 169 wins in 20 seasons at Oklahoma State, including 18 straight bowl appearances. His team was among the favorites to contend for the Big 12 title this season, but the Cowboys are alone in last place heading into Saturday’s game at TCU. The Cowboys (3-6, 0-6) have lost six in a row.

Gundy let loose on during his weekly media session on Monday.

“In most cases, the people that are negative and voicing their opinion are the same ones that can’t pay their own bills,” Gundy said. “They’re not taking care of themselves. They’re not taking care of their own family. They’re not taking care of their own job. But they have an obligation to speak out and complain about others because it makes them feel better. But then, in the end, when they go to bed at night, they’re the same failure that they were before they said anything negative about anybody else.”

Gundy reversed course after he received backlash.

“I apologize to those who my comments during Monday’s media call offended,” he said. “My intent was not to offend any of our fans who have supported us and this program through the years.”