The question: “It seemed like at points in the second half your defenders were having to play two-hand touch and they (Alabama) were allowed to play Mortal Kombat a little bit. I mean, did you feel like it was a bit one sided?”
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel’s answer after a 15-second pause and eight knocks of the podium: “Next question. Was that long enough silence?”
Suffice to say, the Vols’ third-year head coach wasn’t pleased with the officiating in Tennessee’s 34-20 loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.
The Vols were flagged eight times for 55 yards. The Crimson Tide were flagged once for five yards on a third quarter false start.
A handful of penalties on Tennessee were questionable. Most notably a third-and-nine defensive holding that moved the chains for Alabama after Jalen Milroe’s pass sailed high and out of bounds on an out route. It was one of the only calls Heupel addressed specifically in his postgame press conference and he only acknowledged it rather than comment on it.
“Well we get off the field,” Heupel said while addressing second half defensive issues. “They got the PI or the holding call on one of our corners there.”
More From RTI: Everything Josh Heupel Said After Tennessee Lost At Alabama
The call was soft at best but didn’t end up being extremely critical. Josh Josephs sacked Jalen Milroe three plays later and Will Reichard made a 50-yard field goal with plenty of room to spare though it was close to missing wide. Reichard’s attempt would have been from 53 yards if the defensive holding was not called.
Tennessee was called for two offensive holdings. The Vols overcame the first in the first half with two straight runs but couldn’t on a late third quarter drive. Alabama wasn’t called for a holding. The Crimson Tide got away with an obvious hold on Milroe’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond to open the second half.
It was clearly a hold and it kept Tyler Baron from potentially affecting the pass. But to play devil’s advocate, holding goes uncalled on nearly every play in a football game, though this one was fairly obvious and isolated from the rest of the line of scrimmage.
Officiating was far from Tennessee’s biggest problem as Alabama outscored them 27-0 in the second half. The Crimson Tide dominated the line of scrimmage and completely flipped the script from a first half that saw Tennessee out gain the Crimson Tide 275-133.
The two touchdown blown lead led to Tennessee’s 10th straight loss at Bryant-Denny Stadium dating back to 2003.
10 Responses
What about the forearm to the back of roydell Williams helmet. Officials let that go. Get over it. Penalties do not dictate the outcome of a game. Great players make great plays
Sorry Josh but, you are too nice. The Birmingham crew screwed your eyes out and it was obvious from the start. In my opinion refs should be disciplined. I understand that the SEC is about money but, they are riding a sway back mule in Bama. They are going nowhere. The media is driving the playoffs and OU and the defunct PAC 2 are getting the sympathy.
Granted, Alabama came out and hit us in the mouth the second half. They obviously made some excellent adjustments at halftime.
But to pretend like the blatantly biased officiating had no effect on the Vols is ludicrous.
Football is a game of momentum. And it’s damn hard to turn the tide when they are getting every break from the officials.
People want to say coach was dumb for going for it on 4th down? Why isn’t everyone pointing out that Milton obviously made the line to gain on one of those?
Alabama and the entire SEC officiating team should hang their heads in shame. This game was a farce.
I didn’t hear you Tennessee fans crying about officiating last year at home whenever yall had those home refs call 130 yards in penalties on Alabama!?? Stop crying
This whole game was a joke..lil Nicky got his calls..and the officials are to blame in this one..as was in Florida loss..the officials are throwing penalties at any team that will potentially give Georgia a run ..any team in the east is subject to the officials screwing them..and when it gets to the SEC championship Georgia will win against whoever w the help from the officials. Bet!!!!
I strongly believe the sec should investigate the blatant no calls and bs calls on vols team simply because everyone in America saw it live on TV. Sec should investigate refs to find any connections at all to Bama a d gambling, Bama should forfeit all wins, face a huge funeral, be placed on probation be limited for 6-10 years on scholarships, a post season ban -3-5 years . It was that obvious to the world
Alabama is one of the most penalized teams in the SEC, but low and behold they get one called on them the whole game. The Dallas Cowboys could not have won in Tuscaloosa Saturday, the refs was not going to let Alabama lose. We want to point out a Tennessee player trying to punch the ball out but hit the player with his forearm,(a football play) but we can’t see Little Trey Burton kick a player. No you bamer fans need to get over it. We can beat the 11 on the field but beating all 16 (refs included) is hard to do in Tuscaloosa.
Vols fans are “Vols Fans” when they get beat by Vandy, they wanna say “act like you been there before” but when they beat Florida……….yeah FLORIDA it’s OK to talk trash. They acted worse over a Bama win than Vandy did over multiple UT wins, but they are “its different when it happens to us” school in the SEC.
Russell, that is not to be spoken about!!! This is a thred just for excuses and reasons why UT lost, because they were screwed and will continue to be screwed unless they can replay 98. Never ever speak of missed calls on their behalf, that’s just an officiants mistake not a blatant missed call by any measure…………….especially not at Neeland Stadium
Well, about the best thing I saw in this game was Saban pitching his usual childish tantrums. This guy has to be one of the best ever, but his team can be up by three touchdowns with 30 seconds left to play, and something doesn’t go his way and he goes absolutely nuts! MAKES MY DAY! The only other coach who can match him in this was Steve Spurrier, another sore loser….even when he’s winning.