SEC won't suspend Alabama's Quinton Dial for hit on Aaron Murray

Alabama Crimson Tide defensive end Quinton Dial will not be suspended for the BCS National Championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Dial had drawn scrutiny for a hit on Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Aaron Murray in this year's SEC championship game, but the SEC reviewed the hit and elected not to suspend the senior.

The hit came shortly before halftime in Alabama's title game against Georgia. Dial approached from Murray's left just after the quarterback had thrown an interception, leading with his head and connecting with Murray's head a split second after Murray realized he was coming.

SEC commissioner of officials Steve Shaw previously indicated that the play was clearly a penalty. "By rule, you can't hit a defenseless player above the shoulders," Shaw said. "What the determination needs to be is was this a defenseless player and was contact initiated above the shoulders?[...] From game action, it was a personal foul regardless of how we break it down frame by frame."

Despite that, the conference decided that the schools could handle it internally and no sanction was needed.