Immediately after the block, Cody took off his helmet while the play was still seemingly in progress. The argument most folks are making was that 'Bama should've been flagged for a penalty and UT should've gotten another attempt at the game-winning FG.Now, about that non-call on Cody. Yes, an SEC officiating crew screwed up again. This time, it didn't matter.
Howls erupted after Cody's goal block saved Alabama's bacon. Cody indeed removed his helmet while still in the field of play. That's a big no-no, and it usually merits a 15-yard penalty. But here's where the howlers are wrong. Even if officials had flagged Cody, Tennessee wouldn't have gotten another kick.
Because Alabama blocked and recovered the ball, Alabama had possession. The game can't end on a defensive penalty, but because of the possession change, Alabama wasn't on defense. We'll let SEC spokesman Charles Bloom take it from here.
"The foul for taking helmet off is a live ball foul treated as a dead-ball foul," Bloom wrote in an e-mail Saturday night. "That is, if it happens on a play where time does not expire then the penalty is enforced on the following play. However since the clock ran out on that play, then there is no next play, so there is no penalty to mark off."
So, yes, the officials were technically wrong in not throwing the flag on Cody but, this time, the outcome of the game was in no way affected. In other words, the SEC officials actually caught a break this time around, if for no other reason than the timing of their misstep. The SEC Rocks!
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