Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff made something out of nothing on a scramble during the first quarter of Saturday’s game against Tennessee. Only, Vandagriff and the Wildcats should have gotten more out of play but the officials missed a blatant penalty committed by the Volunteers.
Vandagriff scrambled to his right and appeared to look down the field for a long pass. Not seeing an opening, he instead opted to tuck the ball away and try to pick up some yards with his feet. The quarterback gained two yards before stepping out of bounds on the Tennessee sideline. He was then hit by Omarr Norman-Lott, a defensive lineman for the Volunteers who was not even on the field for the play.
Much to the confusion of announcers Tom Hart and Jordan Rodgers, no penalty was called.
“I’m a little surprised a flag wasn’t blown here,” Rodgers said.
“Yeah, you’ve gotta flag that,” Hart exclaimed.
“That is a big miss by this officiating crew.”
Tom Hart and Jordan Rodgers have the Kentucky-Tennessee call for SEC Network. 🏈🦓🎙️ pic.twitter.com/ZFxGS03JHj
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 3, 2024
This wasn’t a situation where Vandagriff ran full speed into a player on the bench, who couldn’t quite get out of the way. By all appearances, as Rodgers noted, Norman-Lott was trying to hit Vandagriff.
“That wasn’t a ‘You ran into my extended hands,'” Rodgers replied. “He was extending the hands.”
“That is a big miss by this officiating crew,” Hart added.
Tennesse definitely got away with one here. A player getting hit that far out of bounds will almost always be called, even if the player doing the hitting is on the field and also running at full speed. Norman-Lott wasn’t even on the field for the play in question makes it harder to understand how this penalty was missed.
[Photo Credit: SEC Network]
