Alabama football was not a victim of Auburn’s defensive backs cheating, but college football’s pass interference rule’s malfunction was on display Saturday.
The Auburn Tigers beat the Alabama Crimson Tide fair and square in Saturday’s Iron Bowl. No excuses. Whether one feels that Alabama did not play well or that Auburn simply outplayed the Tide, it was done fairly.
However, if college football utilized the National Football League’s version of the pass interference rule, the momentum of the game may have swung differently.
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Auburn defensive back Javaris Davis was flagged for pass interference on Alabama’s wide receiver Calvin Ridley with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. It was a deep pass that was likely going to be an easy score for the Crimson Tide, as quarterback Jalen Hurts led Ridley with the pass perfectly. It took Davis pulling down hard on Ridley’s jersey, enough for CBS commentators to laugh at the play, for the pass to be broken up.
The referee made the right call. It was pass interference. It was also only a 15 yard penalty. Alabama got the ball at their own 40 yard line, instead of deep in the heart of Auburn territory.
The same thing happened in the third quarter. Carleton Davis was flagged for pass interference on Ridley. Instead of having the ball near the Auburn goal line, the ball was advanced 15 yards to the Auburn 29 yard line.
Both drives resulted in fumble disasters for the Crimson Tide, who lost by less than two touchdowns.
There is no guarantee that Alabama would have scored a touchdown on either drive, but the consequence for pass interference raises concerns for any college football team.
If anything, it is a very wise decision by any coach to tell his defensive backs to commit pass interference under the same circumstances. There is no moral issue with it, because it falls within the rules. If a DB knows that a home run pass is imminent, why not commit the penalty if the result will only be 15 yards and a first down for the opposing offense?
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The Auburn players were punished for their actions with a total of 30 yards and two first downs, instead of allowing Alabama two easy scores. The defense was able to recover and stop the Crimson Tide from scoring any points on those drives.
Alabama could have done the same thing by committing pass interference on any deep ball that Auburn threw. The result would have been the same in Alabama’s favor. There is no shame in Auburn committing those penalties because, in hindsight, it was very smart football.
Unfortunately for Alabama fans, Auburn should be commended for playing with high football IQs. Those two plays may not have been the difference in the game, but they certainly did not help Alabama’s cause, either. Both penalties did not allow the momentum to change, they simply advanced the ball a bit further down the field and let the Crimson Tide have another set of downs to squander far away from Auburn’s goal line.
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If the penalties were under NFL rule, the ball would have been placed near the Auburn end zone, making for Alabama’s play-calling look a bit different.
Yet, ‘what ifs’ do not win football games. Auburn played by the rules and won. Alabama can cry all they want; however, their beef is not with Auburn, it’s with the college football rulebook, which was fair for both teams to use during Saturday’s game.