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Alabama

Kirk Herbstreit perplexed, Kalen DeBoer livid over 'incorrect call' wiping away Alabama TD

IMG_0985by:Griffin McVeigh•11/23/24•

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Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer
USA Today Sports

Alabama thought they had finally broken through against Oklahoma, with Jalen Milroe connecting with Ryan Williams for a touchdown. On a fourth down as well, potentially turning the tide in Norman. Except a flag was thrown by the SEC officiating crew.

Williams was called for illegal touching, being covered up by another wide receiver. After the ABC broadcast showed the replay, Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Bill Lemonnier did not agree with the call. Lemonnier also pointed out that the play was not reviewable.

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“Help me out here,” Herbstreit began. “Here’s Ryan Williams and here’s the outside guy.”

“He’s not covered up,” Fowler said.

“I don’t personally see the cover-up there,” Lemonnier said. “…I got two guys in the backfield to the right and one guy on the line of scrimmage. It’s an incorrect call.”

You can check out the full play here.

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Herbstreit was also confused by the timing of the flag, coming quite late. The play had already developed and Williams was in the end zone.

Kalen DeBoer is not usually one to get animated on the sideline but he was going insane after the call was made. Not just yelling either as the Alabama head coach was jumping around, looking for an explanation. An official on the sideline did the best to talk with DeBoer but he was not happy at all.

A few moments later, the game resumed. Since the illegal touching penalty occurred on a fourth down, there was a loss of down. Oklahoma took over and maintained their three-touchdown lead. Brent Venables and his team will now have the opportunity to kill even more clock as they hope to pull off an upset.

Even if the score to Williams counted, Alabama would have a steep hill to climb. Nothing has gone well offensively for the Crimson Tide but for a moment, there was hope. A flag took it all away though, with nobody, not even the game announcers, quite sure why.