Booger McFarland shreds Josh Heupel for playcall on Alabama pick-6
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If Alabama goes on to beat Tennessee, the final play of the first half will loom large over the result.
Facing a second-down play from the 1-yard line with 9 seconds remaining in the half, Tennessee quarterback Joey Aguilar was picked off by Alabama defensive back Zabien Brown. The Tide returned the ball 99 yards for a touchdown the other way. Instead of climbing within a few points of the Tide, Tennessee fell down 23-7.
As the ABC broadcast threw it to the halftime studio show, ESPN’s Booger McFarland laid the blame for the interception at the feet of head coach Josh Heupel.
“If you’re Joey Aguilar, you can’t telegraph the pass, but I blame Josh Heupel for this,” McFarland said.
Tennessee used its final timeout seconds earlier after a run from DeSean Bishop on third down moved the chains and set up the Vols on the Alabama 2.
Alabama stopped the clock after another run with 9 seconds to play. Without the ability to stop the clock, McFarland argued that a play-action pass was useless.
“As a defender, I know when you have no timeouts left and you want to put points on the board, you have to throw the football. I know we’re throwing the football,” McFarland said. “I don’t care what formation you come out in, I know we’re throwing the football.
“This is a play designed to fake the run and set up the pass. There’s no run going on here. This corner knows there’s no run. He sees it coming, it’s an easy pick.”
The interception from Brown was the only turnover of the first half.
Tennessee gained 173 yards compared to 188 from Alabama. The Vols had more rushing yards than Alabama, whose leading rusher (Jam Miller) had 6 rushing attempts for 7 yards at the break.
But they trailed by 16 points on the scoreboard. And Alabama was set to receive the kick to start the second half.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
