The Tennessee Volunteers are officially back after beating Alabama, though winning with class hasn't necessarily returned to Knoxville just yet — just ask the mob that uprooted the goal post and ditched it in the Tennessee River.
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In the aftermath of the SEC West upset — one that snapped Alabama's 15-game win streak in the rivalry — Alabama fans have been outraged on social media over a massive pass interference call on Alabama that took place late in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game in Neyland Stadium.
Alabama was leading 49-42 with four minutes left in the game when Crimson Tide defensive back Malachi Moore was flagged for a controversial pass interference on fourth and five. The play originally resulted in an interception after the ball was deflected into the hands of Kool-Aid McKinstry in the end zone. Instead, Tennessee was given a new set of downs, later scored and eventually wound up winning the game on a last-second field goal.
The call left Alabama fans outraged, while Tennessee fans argued the call was correct.
Alabama's Pass Interference Call Against Tennessee: Right or Wrong?
Here's another look at the game-changing pass interference Nick Saban was asked about following Alabama's loss to Tennessee pic.twitter.com/fDFuZkvxPO
— Tony Tsoukalas (@Tony_Tsoukalas) October 16, 2022
This was an under thrown ball. The receiver literally falls into the DB trying to catch the ball & he gets called for PI. This was the call that took away an Alabama INT that would’ve no doubt ended the game https://t.co/N7e1KbnS0O
— ~𝙂𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙯~ (@ewhigham) October 16, 2022
One of these plays was called pass interference. The other was not. This is just a fact. pic.twitter.com/cHIvMs5mCm
— Adam Weil (@AdamWeil22) October 16, 2022
Alabama fans trying to tell everyone that this wasn’t a pass interference is the most hilarious thing I’ve heard all week. pic.twitter.com/N0lDTNw357
— Dallas (@ferg_113) October 17, 2022
The last screenshot makes it pretty clear Moore had his hands on Tennessee tight end Princeton Fant. Still, pass interference is such a tricky call on bang-bang plays.
Alabama head coach Nick Saban didn't want to talk about the call after the game, but he did make it known he was frustrated with pass interference calls in general.
"I can't really comment on it," Saban said of the play. "It's hard to see when it's down in the corner. I thought the guy made a good squat on the ball and we intercepted a tip ball. And then we had another one on third and six, had good coverage on the guy."
"I think pass interference is one of the most controversial calls in all of college football right now. I've talked about it before. The inconsistency on how it gets called — not just on those calls but in all calls. The officials do the best they can. I'm not making any negative comments about what they called."
Saban can't publicly criticize the referees without earning a fine — he can ask his buddy Lane Kiffin about that — but if you read between the lines it seems he wasn't happy with the call.
It wasn't the only controversial PI call that game. Earlier in the game, Tennessee was called for one in the end zone on a third down. Upon replay, it appeared the Alabama receiver pulled down the Tennessee defender and the call could have gone the other way. Instead of settling for a field goal, Alabama wound up scoring a touchdown.
Was defensive PI the right call here? pic.twitter.com/ZipjxxhWjd
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 15, 2022
Let's not a couple of controversial calls take away from what was the best game of the college football season thus far.
