Tennessee LB Aaron Beasley addresses bizarre defensive penalty against Alabama
The Tennessee Volunteers fell 34-20 to Alabama on Saturday. Despite a deflating second half showing from the men in white and orange, it was the ones in white and black that drew the ire of fans and Josh Heupel's obvious disapproval, and it's easy to understand why. The Vols were flagged 8 times for 55 […]
The Tennessee Volunteers fell 34-20 to Alabama on Saturday. Despite a deflating second half showing from the men in white and orange, it was the ones in white and black that drew the ire of fans and Josh Heupel's obvious disapproval, and it's easy to understand why. The Vols were flagged 8 times for 55 yards, while Alabama was flagged once for 5 yards for a snap infraction.
One of the more befuddling penalties occurred with 4:15 left in the second quarter. With Alabama down 13-7 and driving at the Tennessee 28-yard line, the Crimson Tide approached the ball and lined up. Suddenly, a flag flew, and a whistle blew. The call came in: delay of game on LB Elijah Herring. First down Alabama.
On replay, Herring was shown clapping his hands. However, he was looking from side to side and at the line of scrimmage, as though he was firing up his teammates or perhaps giving a signal. It was explained that he was flagged for simulating the snap through clapping his hands.
On Tuesday, fellow linebacker Aaron Beasley was asked about the penalty, and he said Herring told him he probably shouldn't have been so loud with it.
"I think Elijah, he even told me he probably was hitting his hands a little too hard, so I feel like he can take a little bit off the signal we (were) given. Really no worries there. I feel like we'll be fine with that."
Almost the exact same thing happened a couple of weeks ago in the LSU-Missouri game. A Missouri was flagged for defensive delay of game for clapping while looking at a teammate, a seemingly innocent action on its face. However, the move is apparently included within the gambit of acts that can be considered a foul.
While flagging a defender for clapping may be correct under the rule, it's perhaps one that should be revisited in the offseason. After all, certainly the center should be able to perceive which direction a clap is coming from (especially the home team with minimal crowd noise), and players should be allowed to fire each other up or communicate or otherwise get each other's attention.
Unfortunately for Vol fans, it still feels like one of too many breaks against them from the officials in favor of the home team last Saturday.
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The Vols’ signal caller had a strong outing against Alabama, and UK’s head coach took notice
