Eli Drinkwitz weighs in on controversial roughing call vs. Kentucky: 'They're rewarded for a huge mistake'

How far back does the tackle box extend from the line of scrimmage?

Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz was wondering that postgame after Kentucky’s 21-17 win over the Tigers, a game where Mizzou held a late lead and even had a chance for a drive to win it late with good field position.

The scenario in question came when Kentucky snapped the ball far over the punter’s head, causing him to run to grab the ball near the goal line. A Mizzou defender made a play on the ball, attempting to tackle the punter while affecting the ensuing punt. Good field position for the Tigers evaporated when the officials called a roughing the punter penalty on Missouri.

Unreal. Snap over the #Kentucky punter’s head, Goodfellow picks it up and punts it and draws a “roughing the punter” call from his own goal line with a 4-point lead. Awful break for #Mizzou. UK can probably just run out the clock from here. #SEC #CFB pic.twitter.com/7vZYH2qyQc

— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) November 5, 2022

 Drinkwitz commented on the controversial call postgame.

Drinkwitz said it’s “beyond me” how when a ball is snapped over the punter’s head and is 50 yards downfield the defense can’t tackle him.

“They’re rewarded for a huge mistake.”

— Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) November 5, 2022

That’s a rough way to lose for the Tigers, who played strong defense against a strong team such as Kentucky.

And we’ll definitely be hearing about the controversial call some more this week.