Anyone watching No. 11 Alabama hold off an upset bid from an unranked Texas A&M team on Saturday might have had a hard time figuring out what happened on one of the game’s critical plays. So, what caused the confusion? A double whammy from CBS analyst Gary Danielson.
The play in question happened in the fourth quarter. Aggies quarterback Max Johnson was penalized for intentional grounding in the end zone. That’s exactly what the referee told the crowd at Kyle Field and everyone watching at home.
“The ruling on the field is an incomplete pass. Intentional grounding, offense No. 14. The foul occurred in the end zone. By rule, it’s a safety.”
If that was all the viewers heard, there would be no issue. But the problem was, as the referee was making the announcement, Danielson would not stop talking. Making matters worse, he didn’t completely realize what was going on, so he was throwing out some incorrect speculations.
“Oh, he threw it,” Danielson said, right after the referee announced that the pass was incomplete. Had he stayed silent and let the referee finish the announcement, there would have been no issue. But as “intentional grounding” was being announced, Danielson kept going.
“But was he in the grasp when he let the ball go?” Fortunately, Danielson was silent when the referee announced that it was a safety, but even then, it took him a while to catch on. “His knee was down, I think. Or, they called holding in the end zone? Is that what they called?”
He eventually realized that it was intentional grounding, right before Gene Steratore was brought in to explain the ruling.
Gary Danielson trying to figure out what is going on- as the ref is announcing the call.
The ref explains that it's intentional grounding in the end zone and therefore a safety.
"They called holding in the end zone? Is that what they called?" 🏈🎙️🦓 pic.twitter.com/z17gAlLDqP
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 7, 2023
If there’s any saving grace here, it’s that Danielson’s point of “either way, it’s either intentional grounding, holding or his knee was down, it’s two points” is accurate. If those are the only three options, it’s going to be a safety and two points for Alabama no matter what.
But in this case, that’s kind of lucky. And given that his partner, Brad Nessler, originally thought that it might be a fumble recovered by the Tide for a touchdown, there was too much uncertainty with the call to be talking over the referee, especially with such an important call late in a close game.
[Photo Credit: CBS]
