Nick Saban Calls for Consistency in Officiating
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama has officially been penalized more than any other team in the country.
After the Crimson Tide got called for a program-record 17 penalties Saturday against Tennessee, it's no surprise that penalties were a major theme of Nick Saban's Monday press conference.
Whether it be pass interference, which wiped out a game-sealing interception for the second week in a row, or pre-snap infractions, or special teams penalties that negated big gains, Saban is frustrated with it all.
Depending on the type of infraction, whether or not to throw a flag is a judgement call by the officials in college football, which Saban understands, but the main thing he's asking for is consistency among the officials, particularly when it comes to pass interference.
"Look, my big thing is just consistency," Saban said when asked if he thought pass intereference should be reviewable. "Just call it the same for everybody. And it’s hard to define exactly what you can and can’t do. I would rather see that happen. In the NFL, they defined exactly what you can and can’t do and it’s a really, really difficult judgement call, but you knew exactly what you could and couldn’t do. I think that would be beneficial."
Alabama was called for 17 penalties Saturday compared to Tennessee's six. Overall on the season, the Crimson Tide has been penalized 66 times compared to 45 for its opponents.
Kool-Aid McKinstry's fourth-quarter interception in the end zone, which was called back for a pass interference on Malachi Moore, is one of two calls that left fans and Saban wanting an explanation after Saturday's game.
Late in the first half against the Volunteers, Tennessee defensive lineman Omari Thomas lowered his helmet into Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. The officials originally called it targeting, but after review, the call was overturned. Instead of moving further into Tennessee territory with an automatic first down, it set up second-and-10, and Alabama had to settle for a field goal two plays later.
Saban was not offered an explanation from the officials in person Saturday about why it was not targeting, but said the team turned in the plays to the league office for consideration. It also brought up the idea of consistency in officiating by comparing it to a call made on Alabama defensive back Malachi Moore last season at Texas A&M.
"There’s two things that are an issue here: targeting, but you’re also not supposed to hit the quarterback in the head," Saban said. "Last year against Texas A&M, Malachi got thrown out of the game. The guy was out of the pocket, jumped up to block the ball and ended up, almost accidentally, hitting him in the head and got ejected from the game. So there’s really two things that should be looked at.”
Overall, Saban did not place blame on the officials for the loss immediately following the game or on Monday. He opened the Monday press conference calling it a "collective loss" by the team and put the onus on everyone in the program to show improvement.
Alabama team captain Will Anderson Jr. said discipline, relating to penalties or any other issue, has to start in practice.
"This is something that from the bottom up—I mean, I'm talking about coaches, I'm talking about every player, I'm talking about me— we've all got to do a better job to help these guys learn from their mistakes, improve and get better," Saban said. "This is not the way you want to manage through a season by games coming down to the last play."
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