Kirk Herbstreit doubles down on criticism of Oklahoma kicker Tate Sandell's pant length: 'Those were short shorts'

If there was any lasting takeaway from Oklahoma‘s 33-27 win over Tennessee last Saturday, it was how much Kirk Herbstreit dislikes seeing college football players in “short shorts.” The ABC color analyst made his distaste for thigh-high football pants clear when he suggested Sooners kicker Tate Sandell should be flagged for sporting cutoff shorts during the second of his four field goals Saturday in Knoxville.

“That should be a penalty, just dressing like that should be a penalty,” Herbstreit, who referred to Sandell’s pants as “Daisy Dukes,” can be heard saying live on air Saturday.

Sandell, an offseason transfer from UTSA, was a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals Saturday, including three for 50-plus yards. He accounted for 15 of Oklahoma’s 33 points in the game. During his weekly Thursday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, Herbstreit was playfully called out for his in-game fashion critique by the show’s popular host, Pat McAfee.

“Those were shorts, dude,” Herbstreit responded. “They were not just (pulled up) above the knee, those were short shorts.”

While McAfee acknowledged Sandell’s cutoff pants were hiked up a little further than most kickers generally wear them, the former Indianapolis Colts punter and collegiate kicker/punter at West Virginia explained it was likely more about function than fashion.

Pat McAfee on Tate Sandell’s ‘short shorts’ vs. Tennessee: ‘We don’t want anything on top of our knee’

“Yeah, he came out afterwards and said … he didn’t know how short they were until he saw it (afterwards),” McAfee said. “And two, I’d say as somebody that did not like anything touching my knee — I think that’s most kickers, we don’t want anything on top of our knee because of the amount of movement — I think those were a little high.”

A picture of McAfee from his NFL playing days then appeared on screen. It showed the former Colts punter wearing traditional football pants that end just above the knee overtop blue leggings, which Herbstreit praised: “Look at you, that’s perfect.”

Whether you agree with his choice in fashion, Sandell’s “short shorts” have clearly been effective this season. The Sooners’ junior kicker currently leads the SEC with a 94.7% accuracy rate, having made 18 of his 19 field goal attempts this season.

“Sandell is his name, great kicker out of Oklahoma,” McAfee added. “I mean, you’ve got to be good to have the amount of confidence to roll out there with those shorts where they were at.”

Even Herbstreit praised Sandell for on-field bravado while nailing multiple 50-plus-yard field goals Saturday against Tennessee.

“And then you see the mean-mugging on the backend of those kicks too,” Herbstreit concluded on Thursday. “After he made the kicks, he’s like ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, that just happened.’ … He’s a hammer. For a little guy, … he was crushing them.”