Former NFL official weighs in on Caleb Williams heads up play
The Oklahoma Sooners and their freshman quarterback Caleb Williams barely escaped Kansas 35-23 this afternoon. One of the game-changing plays was a controversial one where Williams snatched the football from Oklahoma running back Kennedy Brooks and advanced the football for a first down.
Oklahoma was up 28-23 with 3:28 remaining in the game, and the play was run on a fourth and 1 near midfield.
Take a look at the play below.
While it may very well have been the “play of the day”, former NFL official Terry McAulay said the play should have been blown dead when Kennedy Brooks was driven two yards short of the line to gain.
Check out his tweet below.
Further down in the thread, McAulay then clarifies the difference between “fumbling” and “handling the ball”. He notes that the rule seems to infer that handing is an intentional act by a player in possession of the football.
If that’s true, it would make the play above a fumble, which means the ball could not be advanced as the ball was taken away by Williams.
Kansas fans are likely to argue about the controversy of this play for a long time. It’s a painful loss for the Jayhawks, but they simply couldn’t find a way to stop Caleb Williams.
The nation’s former No. 1 overall prospect in the On3 Class of 2021 recruiting rankings has played like he’s had a superman cape on his back since he made a splash in the Red River Showdown.
While he didn’t play nearly as well against Kansas as he did against TCU and Texas, Williams still shined when his team needed him in the most critical of moments.
Watch below as he eludes a couple of Jayhawk defenders in the backfield and takes the rock the house.
The 40-yard touchdown run by the fleet footed signal-caller was the stone cold dagger in this game that really helped to break this game open in the 4th quarter for the Sooners. It pushed the lead to 28-17.
As a passer against the Jayhawks, Williams completed 15 of his 20 passing attempts for 178 passing yards, while tossing two passing touchdowns and one interception. On the ground, he had eight carries for 70 rushing yards, with one rushing touchdown.
There’s a reason the Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) product was rated as the nation’s top overall prospect coming out of high school. Regardless of the controversy, the freshman signal-caller has continued to bail his team out time and time again in two of their last three games.
Oklahoma fans are hoping he can carry the Sooners to a College Football Playoff berth for the 2021-2022 season.