SEC releases statement on momentum-altering penalty in first half of Alabama-Tennessee game
By Cody McClure
Published:
Alabama hammered Tennessee 45-7 on Saturday.
There was a key play in the first half that helped swing momentum in the Crimson Tide’s favor when Tennessee defensive end Jonathan Kongbo was penalized with a personal foul.
It was a huge penalty against the Vols. Tennessee was able to knock the ball out of an Alabama player’s hands, and it subsequently rolled through the back of the end zone — meaning that it would have been a touchback against the Tide.
Instead, because Kongbo had his hand at the throat of an Alabama offensive lineman, Alabama got the ball in a first-and-goal situation and then scored a touchdown.
The outcome of the play and the resulting penalty yardage was confusing to some. Many Tennessee fans, and a few people on the sideline, seemed to disagree with the call that was made.
Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Blake Toppmeyer tweeted out this statement from the SEC:
Explanation from the SEC for how the penalty yardage was assessed for first Kongbo penalty pic.twitter.com/MH7txeFng7
— Blake Toppmeyer (@btoppmeyer) October 22, 2017
If the ruling had been different, or if Kongbo hadn’t committed the penalty, it could have changed the momentum in the game as Tennessee would have been down just 7-0 with the ball as opposed to getting down 14-0.
Who knows if it would have mattered in the long run. Alabama wore the Vols out in the second half.
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
