Ryan McGee applauds Josh Heupel for nuanced criticism of calls vs. Georgia

Criticism of the officials happens all the time in sports. And many of the Tennessee fans were griping about the officials after their loss to Georgia. While it was a 31-17 loss, plenty of Volunteer faithful were furious with the referees.

And ESPN’s Ryan McGee was quick to applaud Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel for his nuanced criticism of the calls against the Bulldogs.

Ryan McGee on Josh Heupel for his criticism of refs

“12 men on the field. I’ll say this. That rule is that rule. And if you’ve got one toe on the field. It is what it is. You’re talking to a guy, my brother and I to this day, because dad was a field judge. You count players. I remember my brother had the worst seats in the house when Wake Forest and Louisville played in the Orange Bowl. Literally sitting underneath the scoreboard in the upper deck. And my brother stands up and says, they’ve got twelve men on the field. And sure enough, there was a penalty,” McGee explained.

“The rule is the rule. I’ll say this. I base it on the number of text messages I receive from either side. And the number of text messages I received from East Tennessee, was an avalanche. And what that tells you is one side was probably right and there was no defense on the other,” McGee continued.

Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was asked about the face mask and 12 men on the field penalties….⤵️⤵️⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Z8ShM218kH

— Austin Price (@AustinPriceless) November 17, 2024

“Give Josh Heupel credit, he’s not exactly a media darling. Great guy. But just never gives you a lot. Privately he will. But publicly with a bunch of microphones just doesn’t do it. But I thought that was pretty brilliant, what he did. If folks haven’t seen it, it’s on the interweb. But the question came up about the first call. And he just turned the microphone around. Could you explain what do you think happened on that call. And then he says, would you like to ask me about the 12th men penalty?” McGee continued.

“And he just turns the microphone back around towards the room. Nobody’s gonna put together a highlight reel of his press conferences, but when they do that’s the one clip that they’re gonna show. It’s pretty good,” McGee finished.

Tennessee will take on the UTEP Miners on Saturday, November 23rd. Kick for that one is slated for 1:00 PM EST.