Nick Saban addresses potential missed call against Alabama on game-winning touchdown drive
It’s possible that one of the plays that set up Alabama’s game-winning touchdown against should have been a penalty. We’ve all seen the play by now, as Jalen Milroe Isaiah Bond for an improbable score despite facing fourth-and-goal from the 31-yard line.
The Crimson Tide found themselves in that situation after a mistimed snap from center Seth McLaughlin two plays earlier on second down. Milroe wasn’t ready for the ball and had to chase it down, resulting in a loss of 18 yards.
Film of that play shows Tigers safety Zion Puckett clapping just before the snap. It is a penalty for defensive players to do anything that would simulate the snap, including clapping. Alabama coach Nick Saban addressed the play in a Sunday teleconference.
“Well, first of all, the defense is not allowed to clap if that’s what you’re using as a cadence,” he said . “If what you say actually occurred — and I did see the film — then, I’m not criticizing the officiating, but I’m saying that’s supposed to be a penalty.”
Based on that response, it seems as if Saban believes a penalty should have been called. The coach has to be careful with how he words things, though, to avoid a fine from the SEC.
Saban was asked in a follow-up question if he had considered using a silent count instead of claps to avoid such situations in the future.
“Look, we’ve gone to the silent count before and that has its issues, too,” he said. “Look, you’re not allowed to clap on defense. So if you’re using a clap as your cadence, why would you change your cadence so that somebody does something they’re not supposed to do on the other side of the ball? It doesn’t make any sense to me. We went silent at Texas A&M, we had nine false starts. So it didn’t work too well.”
Ultimately, at least the missed call didn’t prevent Alabama from winning the game against Auburn thanks to the heroic touchdown. If anything, we got something even more memorable out of it as a result. Still, one can understand that Saban would want the officials to get the call correctly, as it put his team in an extremely tricky spot.
Either way, the Crimson Tide now turn their attention to the SEC Championship Game against this weekend with a College Football Playoff berth on the line. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday in Atlanta.
