Via emails and the comments section of the Florida-Mississippi State posting from last night, some of you are all a twitter over the Tide’s Terrence Cody ripping his headgear off in celebration at the very end of the Alabama-Tennessee game.
Cody had just blocked his second field goal of the game on a play that started with :04 left, one that would’ve given the Volunteers a 13-12 upset win over the Tide in Tuscaloosa.
Immediately after the block, Cody took off his helmet while the play was still seemingly in progress. The argument most folks are making was that ‘Bama should’ve been flagged for a penalty and UT should’ve gotten another attempt at the game-winning FG.
Fortunately for all of us, Andy Staples of SI.com has already tackled the issue:
Now, about that non-call on Cody. Yes, an SEC officiating crew screwed up again. This time, it didn’t matter.Howls erupted after Cody’s goal block saved Alabama’s bacon. Cody indeed removed his helmet while still in the field of play. That’s a big no-no, and it usually merits a 15-yard penalty. But here’s where the howlers are wrong. Even if officials had flagged Cody, Tennessee wouldn’t have gotten another kick.
Because Alabama blocked and recovered the ball, Alabama had possession. The game can’t end on a defensive penalty, but because of the possession change, Alabama wasn’t on defense. We’ll let SEC spokesman Charles Bloom take it from here.
“The foul for taking helmet off is a live ball foul treated as a dead-ball foul,” Bloom wrote in an e-mail Saturday night. “That is, if it happens on a play where time does not expire then the penalty is enforced on the following play. However since the clock ran out on that play, then there is no next play, so there is no penalty to mark off.”
So, yes, the officials were technically wrong in not throwing the flag on Cody but, this time, the outcome of the game was in no way affected. In other words, the SEC officials actually caught a break this time around, if for no other reason than the timing of their misstep.
Saturdays Tennessee -Alabama game goes to show the intensity and excitement that is captured in College football. The SEC in recent weeks have had plenty of nailbitters as the two juggernauts Florida and Alabama battle for the top spot. And on any given Saturday that easy win team will come with their A game and possible upset the best team. It goes to say that every college game is a playoff game.
Yeah … they were all a-twitter and some moronic Texas fan (mapreader–who probably couldn’t read a street sign) was on the Bama-Vols post calling us “cheaters” over something so insignificant. But now that it’s been resolved … silence. How typical. Thanks for the update, John.
My Steelers are kicking off. Bye!
Cody’s helmet was not removed until the the clock read 0:00. A blocked FG is dead in college football when it goes past the line of scrimmage as it did Saturday. The coaches at Alabama hopefully apologized for givingg UT the chance to win. 2nd and goal from the 4 and you throw two striaght balls to a guy that has not scored a TD in over a year instead of giving it to Ingram and putting yourself up 13-3 at half instead of 9-3. Also, maybe this week we can put McClain next to Julio on the Hands team and tell him to pick off whoever is the first defender trying to cause contact on the recoverer. 1st and 10 with 3:30 and Ingram fumbles after a 7 yard game. If he holds on to that ball Bama runs out the clock and wins by 9. They tried everything to give the game away but pulled it out. Now LSU comes to town and all of a sudden they may be the best team in the SEC. Bama needed the rest. 8 straight games while most every one else in the country has only played 7.
As a Volunteer fan, I agree with the article. But I have a question, and it doesn’t attack anyone. What would the ruling have been if a Tennessee played had recovered the ball after the blocked kick? Volunteer fans know this year and next year are rebuilding years. To get this close to beating the number one team in the nation was morale victory. But a morale victory, sadly, is still a loss. Hope someone can answer my “what if” question.
Had Tennessee recovered the ball, it would just like downing a punt. Possesion would have changed, Alabama’s ball.