Former NFL referee explains why he thinks officials made right forward progress call in Tennessee Vols' loss to Ole Miss
In the first quarter of the Tennessee Vols' loss to Ole Miss, officials seemingly missed a key call that could've impacted the outcome of the game. Early in the game, Vols pass rusher Tyler Baron appeared to "scoop and score" after Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral fumbled near midfield. Officials let the action on the […]
In the first quarter of the Tennessee Vols' loss to Ole Miss, officials seemingly missed a key call that could've impacted the outcome of the game.
Early in the game, Vols pass rusher Tyler Baron appeared to "scoop and score" after Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral fumbled near midfield.
Officials let the action on the field play out, before huddling after the play and determining that Corral's "forward progress" had been stopped prior to the ball coming out.
You can see the play below (along with the safety later in the quarter, where forward progress wasn't called).
On Tuesday, I had an interesting back and forth on Twitter with former NFL referee and current NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay.
McAulay, who graduated from LSU, believes the officials in the game made the right call, based on Corral being pushed back two yards after contact.
I replied to McAulay and asked about players who escape tackles and pick up positive yards on plays where forward progress is seemingly stopped.
There's some ambiguity in the rules here, which is why I don't necessarily agree with McAulay's explanation. It's open to interpretation and each referee could interpret the rule differently.
This rule is simply too subjective. It needs to be reviewable. If a tackle is reviewable, why isn't this? It impacts the game in the same way.
Perhaps there should be an amount of time where the ball carrier isn't moving forward before the call is made. If that period of time is three seconds, then it's black and white — just like a knee or elbow being down on a tackle. No forward progress for three seconds and the play is dead. Then it can be reviewed and these scenarios can be avoided.
Interestingly, McAulay was involved in a game in 2001 that ended similarly to the Vols/Ole Miss game this past weekend. He was the head referee in a game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Cleveland Browns when a perceived bad call was protested by Cleveland fans who showered the field with trash.
McAulay ended the game with 48 seconds remaining, but he was ordered by then NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to finish the game.
The comments after the game from the Browns' team president and owner made light of the situation, which came to be known as "bottlegate".
From the New York Times:
The Browns' president, Carmen Policy, refused to criticize the fans.
''I don't think Cleveland will take a black eye from this,'' he said. ''I like the fact that our fans care.''
The team's owner, Al Lerner, did not seem too upset, either. ''I think everyone controlled themselves considering they spent 60 minutes out in cold weather,'' he said. ''It wasn't pleasant. I wouldn't suggest anything like that. But it wasn't World War III.''
Featured image via Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
