Can’t help but chuckle over this.
I don’t know if the game will wind up in the same spot it did last year, but I’ll be completely, totally shocked if the secondary makes the same mistake again.
And if it somehow does the inexplicable, it won’t be because the coaches didn’t warn them.
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UPDATE: Or maybe it won’t happen just because…
https://twitter.com/DavidSPaschall/status/532239166193807360
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UPDATE #2: Then there’s this, too.
Boy, I bet they’re tired of being asked about that play. Maybe that’s the best incentive of all.
Get The Picture 
I suppose Seth meant the last defensive play. I’m still burned by the “no call” where they hit Murray helmet to helmet on the actualy real last play.
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I don’t remember that being a helmet-to-helmet specifically, as much as it could have been called “unnecessary roughness” in driving him into the ground with his shoulder. That was a gut-punch of a no-call, too, because of the way AM and the offense came flying back down the field.
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Go look at the video. Murray got earholed with the crown of the defender’s helmet. Blatant head to head shot, not even close to a judgment call.
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It was the crown of Dee Ford’s helmet right into Murray’s earhole. Ford launched himself, too, another violation. The ref was Penn Wagers and it was in his area of the field that this occurred. No flag. When asked after the game why he did not flag Ford and Auburn for the hit, Wagers replied that Aaron Murray was not a “defenseless player” as is required by the targeting rule. That is total BS. The rule was written specifically for QBs passing which is what Murray was doing at the time.
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You know, I thought it was a huge failure by our coaches last year not to have the guys in the mindset to knock the ball down, but because of that event it’s made me pay more attention to what DB’s do in other Hail Mary situations. And in by far the majority of the cases, even at the NFL level, the DB’s are going for the pick. It’s actually a rare thing to see them just try to knock it down. Surely that can’t be something that EVERY coaching staff neglects to teach? Maybe it’s just so ingrained into every DB’s mind to go for interceptions that it’s hard for them to do anything else in the moment. But yes, I do hope our coaches find a way to drill that into our guys’ heads if the situation presents itself again.
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Nah, it’s because most DBs are selfish idiots
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Well, if you watch enough, often players try to bat it and end up tipping it instead. Some have even batted it back to a trailing receiver. Catching the ball takes an nonsense out of the equation. Matthews had an easy pick. I don’t blame him at all. JHC is the one that made a terrible play, being unmindful (is that a word?) of really where he was at and who was around him. And it was plain, dumb luck.
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+1 Interception is the only way to 100% sure the other team doesn’t make a play on the ball. Plus batting an oblong object in any one direction is actually pretty hard to do unless you can manage wrap your whole hand around the football.
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It was 4th down… You bat the ball down and get it at the line of scrimmage.
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+1.
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not looking forward to the multiple replays of that play during the broadcast…
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another reason to go to the game 🙂
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The player that did it is on their side now, so hopefully he makes the same play for them. I do agree about the true last play of the game. AU gets more no-calls on dirty play than any other team in the SEC. But I guess it’s a good thing that they lost this weekend; otherwise the SEC officials would be presented with a temptation to set up a meeting of two one-loss, top-five ranked teams in the Iron Bowl that would be extremely hard for them to resist. However, if Pnn Wg*rs sets foot in Sanford Stadium Saturday night – I will just say that I cannot believe that our AD has not had some discussion with the SEC office after his behavior last November.
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He did and Jere Morehead did, too. About this very play. Slive told Morehead personally to “quit whining.” Morehead is still pissed off about it, too.
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If it is, as you say, true that Jere Morehead is still pissed about the play, I wonder if that is a good thing. Frankly, I am more comfortable with a president who leaves football to the athletic department. It has been quite a while since we had that.
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I do not understand your concern about Morehead still being pissed about the failure to call a penalty. Hell, I am still pissed and I leave football to the athletic department. I am glad our president cares enough to be pissed 360 days later.
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It sounds like an Oklahoma Drill between Jere and Slive would get things squared away.
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Since Slive is in his seventies I would have to bet on Morehead.
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My concern in not uncalled dirty plays or lucky plays from AU, it’s the total lack of holding calls from SEC officials this year, Especially with this Auburn team. It seems to be becoming more noticeable to viewers, as I heard numerous radio shows where this was brought up. Also with the Guz Bus offense, linemen are repeatedly blocking down the field and it is not being called. Giving that we have been burned by it already this year (USC), I can already see myself screaming at my TV when it happens.
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And that gets to the nuts of the matter, the non-holding and downfield line men are so well known that average fans all over the country are aware of these issues….specifically with this exact Auburn team. It isn’t about the sleazy things that happened in 2012 with Fairley or Penn Wagers’ continual “revenge” calls against UGA dating back to the2007 season, this is a current embarrassment for the league, the leagues’ officials, and the league’s Commish. Why do we have rules if they are not enforced? why do we have a supervisor of officials if he doesn’t have the balls to call incompetent officials out? We end up with SECCG’s that have over one hundred total points scored because the Malzahn offense operates by fudging with the OL down field on passing plays screwing up the DB’s reads. And half of America saw the AU left tackle perform rassling moves and a calf roping take down on Garretta all game last weekend. What the hell is going on here?
I hope CMR says it nationally on radio and TV all week to put the spotlight on these two issues and heat on the SEC. Afraid of payback? What more can they do at this point? Look at the number of games where blatant missed calls have cost us already (SC game holding call on Gurley TD run this year, Vandy ridiculous targeting call last season, LSU “celebration” call against AJ, etc.) And these aren’t just the bad calls, they were the “invented” calls that led directly to three SEC losses, they didn’t exist, someone had to blow a whistle, throw a flag, and then lie. We can talk all day about the bad calls that happen every game, including the reviews. Someone has to put pressure on the SEC, we are an elite league with bush-league officials, and it is being tolerated. Why?
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“The linemen running down the field and trying to throw a pass when they’re five yards down the field, to me is ridiculous,” Stoops said Tuesday night, as reported by ESPN. “Football has gotten to where it is stupid, letting guys run [running] plays then throw the ball. I’m just not a big fan of it — it’s lenient and all of a sudden it’s 3, 4, 5 yards.
“Once you get to a certain point it’s not even fair.”
Auburn’s fourth-quarter game-tying touchdown in last year’s 34-28 Iron Bowl win over Alabama was a similar quarterback pass-run option in which Nick Marshall drew Alabama defenders toward him before throwing a 39-yard touchdown pass to Coates, prompting debate on whether some of Auburn’s linemen may have been too far downfield during the play.
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Saw Kirk Herstreit make similar complaints on Gameday.
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“What the hell is going on here?”
Who knows. But that is a very good question.
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Wagers failed to eject Morrison from Florida when he punched a Vandy guy. Wagers was looking right at him and did throw a flag but did not eject him per the rules. Selective enforcement is the norm in the SEC.
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They didn’t eject Gurley either.
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The two guys involved in that play are not here anymore, but one of them is there.
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I’m positive that the WWL’s announcers will show the replay dozens of times before/during the game and it will be a primary talking point for them.
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The choke hold on Drew on the play still pisses me off. Gave that pic to a SEC ref a couple weeks ago. He was embarrassed and shook his head. And he played for Auburn.
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Th fundamental problem is that there is no accountability for game officials in the SEC (and also, it appears, in the PAC 12 which seems to be becoming SEC Lite). Look, even assuming that there will be innocent screw-up, when do the scew-ups get to the point that the official needs to be removed? Wagers crossed that line YEARS ago, and is still with us. I understand this is his last season–he’s “retiring” after 2014. Just use common sense SEC–if an employee is screwing up repeatedly, that employee needs to be let go. Maybe that’s what really is going on with ol’ Penn. We do seem to be transitioning in some new officials.
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+1
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