Jeremy Pruitt miffed over officiating in Tennessee's loss to No. 1 Alabama
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — In the aftermath of Tennessee’s 35-13 loss to No. 1 Alabama, Jeremy Pruitt tried to hold his tongue until the taste of stale cigar smoke made the head coach diplomatically ask rhetorical questions about some shoddy officiating Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium.
The Vols didn’t outright lose to the Tide because they were jobbed by the refs, but several questionable calls — both made and not made — did change their chances of pulling off a stunning upset despite a valiant effort on the road in a hostile environment.
“First of all, I will be the first to say that officials have a very tough job. This game is going so fast. There are lots of things out there,” Pruitt said.
“There was a lot of flags. I know this, we’ve played six games and we’ve been the least penalized team in the SEC. And probably got more penalties in the first quarter than we’ve had for an entire game this year. I don’t know. We might be guilty. I don’t know. But we’ll watch the tape and see. If we are, we’ll correct them. If we’re not guilty, there’s not much we can do.”
Tennessee entered the game averaging just five flags a game, but the Vols were flagged 13 times for 98 yards, including five penalties in the first quarter. Alabama, which entered the game as the most-penalized team in the SEC, was flagged eight times for 93 yards. Herbert Owens’ crew was busy for four quarters, even inserting themselves into the game for no reason at times, too.
In the second quarter, Tennessee was deep in the red zone and hurried to the line to call a Wildcat run for Jauan Jennings. Alabama appeared confused, and for some reason, the officials decided to halt the play. The Vols committed a false start on the next snap.
“That didn’t help us,” Pruitt said. “It was definitely frustrating.”
By halftime, Pruitt was irate with the officials and told the Vol Network going into the locker room, “It will be real interesting to see what the referees do (in the second half). That will be the trick.”
Only Tennessee was treated worse.
The Vols were on the wrong end of a missed pass interference call in the end zone and then Darrell Taylor was flagged for a phantom unnecessary roughness call.
In a one-score game in the third quarter, Taylor delivered a hit on Alabama quarterback Matt Jones to force a punt but was tagged with being too aggressive getting off the ground. The play extended a drive and the Tide would later score — their only offensive touchdown Alabama had after Tagovailoa exited with an ankle injury.
Senior safety Nigel Warrior thought the penalty was “petty” and Pruitt was more than miffed afterwards.
“It was a big part in the game. We’ve stopped them two times in a row. I don’t know what happened,” he said.
“But I know this, they hit our quarterback, and he got a concussion, and there wasn’t no flag. So I don’t know.”
Few do, but here’s guessing Pruitt asks for answer or two from the SEC this week.