Josh Heupel explains the 'letter of the law' on Tennessee's fair catch at Alabama

With the Alabama kickoff in the air on Saturday afternoon, Tennessee freshman linebacker Jeremiah Telander pointed up toward the ball from his spot on the kickoff return team. Josh Heupel said on Monday that according to the “letter of the law,” that can be deemed a fair catch. 

That was the call made on the field early in the third quarter at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. Freshman Cam Seldan returned the kick in the area of the 25-yard line, but the ball was moved back to the Tennessee 4-yard line after officials said Telander had signaled for a fair catch.

“Letter of the law,” Heupel said during his weekly press conference on Monday, “anybody puts their hand up above the shoulder that would signify a fair catch. We had a frontline guy that put his pointer finger up slightly above the shoulder.”

“No,” Heupel then confirmed, “he’s not coached to do that. No.”

In another fair-catch ruling Saturday, Iowa trailed Minnesota 12-10 with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter when Iowa’s Cooper DeJean returned the punt for a touchdown. Officials determined that DeJean waving his left arm, despite it being below his shoulder, was a signal for a fair catch.

Alabama outscored Vols 27-0 in second half

Alabama, after trailing 20-7 at halftime, started the second half with a two-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, cutting the deficit to one possession on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Jalen Milroe to Isiah Bond. 

After the fair catch was called on the ensuing kickoff, Tennessee had a three-and-out from the 4-yard line and punted back to Alabama. The Crimson Tide went back down the field on a six-play, 46-yard drive capped with a 42-yard field goal.

Alabama scored 17 points in the third quarter, taking its first lead at 24-20 on a 5-yard touchdown run from Jase McClellan. The Tide in total scored 27 unanswered points after halftime.

Tennessee built its 20-7 halftime lead by scoring on four of seven drives in the first half, with two Joe Milton III touchdown passes and two Charles Campbell field goals. On seven possessions in the second half, the Vols punted three times, turned it over twice on downs and lost a fumble on a Milton strip-sack that Alabama returned for a touchdown to make it a 34-20 lead midway through the fourth.

“At the end of the day, offense, defense, special teams, you gotta operate 11 as one,” Heupel said. “And we didn’t do that at a high enough level. I liked the way we prepared. I like the way that we practice. You gotta be on the right side of it when we get to game day.”

Up Next: No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky, Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN

No. 21 Tennessee (5-2, 2-2 SEC) now turns its attention to Kentucky (5-2, 2-2) going back on the road for Saturday’s 7 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN) at Kroger Field in Lexington.

The Vols go to Kentucky, host UConn and go to No. 16 Missouri before hosting No. 1 Georgia at Neyland Stadium on November 18. 

“As I said after the ball game, obviously, disappointed for our program, not coming away with the win down in Alabama,” Heupel said on Monday. “The result of the game, said it to the players after the game, said it today. Proud of the preparation, of practice and how we started the game. 

“At the end of the day, a program from me to the players, we all gotta be a little bit better in the second half and, and gotta do that quickly. 

“As we move on,” Heupel added, “I sense the player disappointment this morning, at the same time when we walked out of the team meeting room, gotta cut it clean and gotta take the lessons moving forward, but we gotta go.”