What went wrong on Javon Kinlaw penalty? Muschamp (and Kinlaw) explain

South Carolina football coach Will Muschamp was crystal clear with how he felt about the way defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw dealt with an official just before getting flagged during USC’s 28-3 win against Akron.

“Obviously, he was wrong,” Muschamp said. “I addressed it on the sideline and I haven’t talked to him about it. We’ll address it moving forward.

“There was a confrontation and I felt like we needed to make sure the situation didn’t escalate.”

After a play, he was talking to and gesturing at one of the referees. He was flagged, nearly costing his team a stop.

On the sideline, he knocked a cooler over and was spoken to in succession by Muschamp, defensive tackles coach Lance Thompson, defensive ends coach Mike Peterson and defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson.

After the game, Kinlaw took to Twitter to explain himself, saying: “I ain’t mad because of the holding. When you got a ref mocking you in your face while you trying to talk to him like a man you would be pissed too. I guarantee that.”

That was in response to a fan’s tweet. He had one sack and a pair of pass breakups against the Zips.

“I guess he got held,” linebacker T.J. Brunson said. “He’s been getting held the whole year, and he hasn’t gotten flagged for it. I’ve seen refs look dead at him and just say, ‘Whatever.’ So I’m sure he was really upset about it. ... It’s just something I feel like he’s going to have to get used to. It’s not really my place to say anything if the ref doesn’t throw it.

“I’m sure he boiled over with emotion and stuff, but coaches talked to him. ... He eventually cooled down.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2018 at 4:35 PM.