Kirk Herbstreit takes strong stance on roughing the passer after call in Alabama-Mississippi State

Kirk Herbstreit has a message for opposing defenses on how they can avoid potential roughing the passer penalties. After Mississippi State defensive tackle Nathan Pickering was called for roughing the passer for a late hit on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young in the first half, Herbstreit offered his opinion on how the penalty is changing on the ESPN broadcast.

He brought up the recent concussion to current Miami Dolphins and former Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as a potential reason why officials are changing the way they call roughing the passer.

“I don’t know where you just don’t understand you can’t touch the quarterback,” Herbstreit said. “If any defensive linemen are out there listening, once the guy holding the ball throws the football, let up. Play’s over. You can’t finish like that. …To me, once the ball is out, in this era that we’re currently in after Tua (Tagovailoa) a couple of weeks ago on Thursday night, stop. Don’t touch him. End of story.”

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On the play in question, Pickering clearly hit Young near his neck after he had already released the ball. According to a graphic displayed on the broadcast explaining what constitutes a roughing the passer call, “forcible contact to the head or neck area” is one of the criteria.

Other violations included “forcible contract driving passer to the ground,” and “contact to a passer’s knee or below when in passing posture.” Exceptions to these situations occur when a defender is blocked into the passer or when the passer is in a running motion.

“Right now, because of what’s happening in the NFL and college football, it’s as if that graphic — can Bill redo it and put it in bold print?” Herbstreit asked. “Because it’s intensified every game you watch. We’re like, ‘What’s going on with the quarterback?’ If you’re a defensive coordinator, tell you defensive linemen to lay off the quarterback. If you get to him when he has the ball, hit him. But if he throws the ball, don’t touch him.”

Pickering’s penalty marked the second time Mississippi State had been called for roughing the passer all game. It hasn’t affected Alabama all too much so far, as Young is still 16-of-23 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns and the Crimson Tide led 24-0 at the half.

But as Kirk Herbstreited mentioned, the way roughing the passer is called will be a story to watch as the season moves on. We’ve already seen a controversial example in the NFL, and it will be interesting to see how college responds.