WATCH: Slo-mo replay of review during Tennessee-Alabama leads to hilarious assertion
It was a lengthy replay review on what seemed, at the time, a fairly innocuous touchdown call. Of course it didn’t hurt to double check and get it right, especially with a game as high stakes as the Alabama–Tennessee showdown in Neyland Stadium on Saturday.
Now, “Touchdown Alabama” has posited that head official Jason Autrey may have celebrated the touchdown upon announcing the call stood after review. The outlet shared a clip of the head official making the call, complete with slo-mo replay.
Ask a Tennessee fan and they’ll probably tell you it’s just scorned Crimson Tide fans being poor sports. Ask an Alabama fan and they might tell you the refs were biased, and the fix was in. To a neutral observer, it might seem a slightly animated, robotic motion — but not a sign of anything amiss.
But a lesson to officials: If you’re calling games like this, especially in the SEC, be ready for fans to dissect every aspect of your performance — right down to a slightly exaggerated gesture — to sow the seeds of conspiracy.
The touchdown call itself could be a sore spot for Alabama fans
Neyland Stadium was rocking Saturday afternoon as Tennessee took an early lead over Alabama. The Vols then proceeded to extend their lead in the first quarter — but needed a lengthy replay review to do so.
Hendon Hooker completed an 11-yard pass to Jalin Hyatt — his second score of the day — to put Tennessee up 21-7 in the first quarter. But officials decided to review it after it appeared Hyatt wound up going out of bounds without touching the pylon.
After a lengthy review, the call stood. Tennessee remained in the driver’s seat.
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Hyatt scored earlier in the game, and that touchdown proved to be a milestone for Hooker. He tied the program’s passing touchdowns record with Heath Shuler, and the second connection with Hyatt wound up putting him atop the all-time list.