Tennessee Vols player clears the air on his role during controversial play in loss to Georgia Bulldogs
One of the most controversial plays in the Tennessee Vols' 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs came in the third quarter when the game was tied at 17. Tennessee appeared to have a chance to get off the field with Georgia facing a third-and-seven, but officials stopped the play before the ball could be snapped […]
One of the most controversial plays in the Tennessee Vols' 31-17 loss to the Georgia Bulldogs came in the third quarter when the game was tied at 17.
Tennessee appeared to have a chance to get off the field with Georgia facing a third-and-seven, but officials stopped the play before the ball could be snapped to review a potential substitution infraction.
After a lengthy review, it was determined that Vols defensive lineman Jaxson Moi didn't get off the field before the ball was snapped on the previous play, resulting in a 12-men-on-the-field penalty, which gave Georgia a second-and-two instead of third-and-seven.
The replay showed that Georgia substituted late and Moi took his time running off the field in an effort to force a delay of game penalty on the Bulldogs (or to forced Georgia to use a timeout). Moi sprinted to the sideline after Tennessee's coaches noticed that the official was no longer holding the snap.
At first, some fans questioned why Moi didn't get off the field quicker. But he explained after the game that his slow jog was by design (which is something we see across college football weekly when offenses sub late).
"Yeah, so they subbed late, so we were trying to get a player in, trying to force them to use a timeout," explained Moi after the game. "But if anyone questions my hustle, or thinks I'm lazy, you can go watch film. I put my heart on for this team. I'm not trying to say that in a cocky way. Anybody that thinks that was out of pure laziness, that's not true."
We've seen plenty of instances where offenses, because they're subbing "at their own risk", are forced to use a timeout in that situation (or get called for a delay of game penalty).
Georgia, however, got the call in this particular instance.
Was it home cooking?
Maybe. It certainly appeared that way based on what we've previously seen in the sport.
