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WATCH: Should the play that resulted in Da’Shawn Hand’s injury be outlawed?
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Alabama DL Da’Shawn Hand suffered a scary knee injury in the Tide’s 66-3 win over Ole Miss Saturday.
The play came in the third quarter, and Hand had to be carted off due to the injury. Nick Saban labeled the injury as an MCL strain, but he did say Hand would be reevaluated.
The play was a scary one, and the ongoing debate is whether or not the block on Hand was a legal one. The SEC Network’s Cole Cubelic shared video of the hit on Twitter, and he claims the hit was indeed legal:
Better look at the play that resulted in the Hand injury. HB starts in & block occurs in tackle box, ball has not crossed line. Legal play. pic.twitter.com/meqyUjSt9E
— Cole Cubelic (@colecubelic) October 2, 2017
Former Alabama OL Alphonse Taylor responded to Cubelic and said that he believes the play should have been penalized. According to Taylor, the Ole Miss blocker should have been in front of Hand before administering a cut-block.
@colecubelic pic.twitter.com/RBI3PRo72p
— Alphonse Taylor (@SHANKK50) October 2, 2017
Ryan Brown tweeted out that multiple officials have confirmed the hit was a legal one, but that changes are needed to prevent similar injuries.
I've asked several NCAA officials, they all say it is legal. They all also agree with me a change needs to be made. https://t.co/PwcqEvaIWw
— Ryan Brown (@RyanBrownLive) October 2, 2017
Either way, Alabama will hope that Hand can return quickly. The Tide are already missing a number of key defenders, and losing one of their best DL would be a big blow to the defense.
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
