ESPN announcer tells story that will have Tennessee Vols fans livid for a new reason
The first two years of the Josh Heupel era have provided mostly positive moments for Tennessee Vols fans. From blowing out Missouri and South Carolina in 2021 to beating LSU, Alabama, and Clemson in 2022, it's been mostly good vibes for Vols fans since Heupel arrived in Knoxville a little over two years ago. There […]
The first two years of the Josh Heupel era have provided mostly positive moments for Tennessee Vols fans.
From blowing out Missouri and South Carolina in 2021 to beating LSU, Alabama, and Clemson in 2022, it's been mostly good vibes for Vols fans since Heupel arrived in Knoxville a little over two years ago.
There have been a few moments, however, that have caused some frustration for Tennessee fans.
One of those moments came in the Vols' 2021 Music City Bowl loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.
Tennessee appeared to take the lead on Purdue in overtime when Vols running back Jaylen Wright powered across the goal line for a touchdown.
Unfortunately for Tennessee, the ACC crew officiating the game incorrectly signaled that Wright's forward progress was stopped.
The play appeared to be reviewed, even though forward progress isn't a reviewable call. The assumption at the time was that the officials were listening to see if the whistle was blown before Wright broke the plane of the end zone. Video from the field clearly shows that the whistle was blown after Wright crossed the goal line.
Fans were extremely confused when the play was reviewed and then confirmed since it was obvious that the whistle came after the ball broke the plane.
Well, it turns out that the play wasn't actually reviewed.
ESPN's Tom Hart, who was calling the game, told a story on the "Saturday Down South Podcast" that will have Vols fans angry all over again. According to Hart, he ran into the lead replay official as he was leaving the press box. And the replay official told Hart that the game was stopped for a review only for the purpose of making it appear like the play was being reviewed.
Here's the video of Hart telling the story.
As Hart noted, the fact that they "reviewed" it makes it even worse. Replay clearly showed that the call was missed. Nothing was going to make Tennessee fans feel any better about the blown call (which cost the Vols a win). But the fact that the officials tried to trick fans so they wouldn't be mad makes the ACC crew that blew the call look even more incompetent.
