Greg Sankey wasn’t interested in opening the SEC’s mouth on the Alabama-Georgia officiating storm.
The conference commissioner addressed the issue Wednesday at the league’s basketball media days event in Mountain Brook, and his message was clear: the SEC does not step into judgment-call debates, even when the noise around a game gets loud.
“We don’t comment on judgment calls,” Sankey said. “We have a high expectation of performance for everyone.
Myself, staff, officials. Officials dedicate a great deal of time to preparation and those bang-bang moments.”
That explanation came after a Saturday no-call that left Alabama fans frustrated and wondering whether the Crimson Tide had been shortchanged. On the final possession, Georgia defensive back KJ Bolden hit Rico Scott in a play that even Bolden acknowledged might have been pass interference. A flag there would have given Alabama a key first down and pushed the Tide closer to the Georgia goal line.
Instead, the drive went backward soon after when Keelon Russell was sacked. Alabama punted, never touched the ball again, and lost 20-17.
The officiating complaints did not stop with that one sequence. There was also a clock problem late in the first half that went uncorrected, a play on which QB Reese appeared to intercept the ball before the ruling was changed on replay despite what seemed to be a lack of overwhelming evidence, and a helmet-to-helmet hit on Ryan Coleman-Williams that forced him out of the game without a targeting review.
Sankey said the league will sometimes weigh in when the issue is a rules application mistake, but not when it comes down to judgment.
“There’s a lot of emotion and intensity around our games and officiating every week,” Sankey said. “And there’s a lot of respect for the work that the officials do.
But there are going to be tough calls that happen. And we want to get every one right, and I mean that literally.
But’s a dynamic game with 22 players moving quickly and instantaneous decisions, not all of which are subject to replay, and we’re going to take from any experience the education and the information.”
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For Alabama fans, the frustration is obvious because the loss already carried plenty of weight in a marquee matchup. Klatt did not go so far as to suggest the Crimson Tide were out of the national picture, though, making clear he still views Alabama as a legitimate College Football Playoff championship contender despite the controversy that followed the game. [Read more 🡒]
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What stood out for Alabama was how quickly the new setting took on the feel of a major moment. Davis made clear he had been concerned the crowd might not come through after the relocation, but the fans answered anyway, giving Coleman Coliseum an electric atmosphere that kept the show buzzing and gave the Tide another reminder of how quickly Tuscaloosa can flip a backup plan into home-field theater. [Read more 🡒]