National media outlet says Alabama was the victim of one of the worst officiating calls of the 2024 college football season
According to On3, the Alabama Crimson Tide were the victims of one of the worst officiating calls of the 2024 college football season. If you're an Alabama fan, you probably already know which call it is. On Tuesday, On3's Pete Nakos detailed the 10 worst officiating calls of the 2024 season and he listed the […]
According to On3, the Alabama Crimson Tide were the victims of one of the worst officiating calls of the 2024 college football season.
If you're an Alabama fan, you probably already know which call it is.
On Tuesday, On3's Pete Nakos detailed the 10 worst officiating calls of the 2024 season and he listed the illegal touching call that went against Alabama in the Crimson Tide's loss to the Oklahoma Sooners as the No. 8 worst call of the year.
The penalty wiped a Ryan Williams touchdown off the board that would've brought Alabama within 14 points of Oklahoma early in the fourth quarter.
From On3: With Alabama trying to find momentum for a comeback at Oklahoma in late November, wide receiver Ryan Williams appeared to pull in an impressive catch. The touchdown was called off, however, as an illegal touching penalty was called on Alabama near the end of the play. If Williams’ touchdown had stood, would Alabama pull off the comeback? That’s an unknown.
But the 5-yard penalty resulted in a loss of downs, as Alabama went on to lose 24-3 to the Sooners. According to Rule 12, Article 8 of the NCAA Football rule book, illegal touching is a reviewable call. According to the rulebook, illegal touching is called when: No originally ineligible player while inbounds may intentionally touch a legal forward pass until it has touched an opponent or an official.
“They said it was illegal touching, so someone had to have been covered up, (making him) ineligible,” Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer said postgame.
ESPN's broadcast was quick to point out that a penalty shouldn't have been called on the play.
Even if the touchdown had stood, Alabama still would've faced an uphill battle to complete the comeback against Oklahoma. But that penalty essentially ended any chance that Alabama had to win the game.
And that loss ended up being the nail in the coffin for Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes.
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