The most controversial moment of the weekend came in the first overtime of the Florida-Kentucky game. After Kentucky scored a touchdown on its possession to start the extra frame, the Gators were facing a fourth-and-seven from the 10-yard line.
As Florida quarterback Jeff Driskel received the play call from the sideline, the play clock was quickly winding down. The Gators managed to barely get the play off in time and Driskel threw a touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson to tie the game.
However, the instant replay showed that the play clock had appeared to reach zero just before the ball was snapped. Florida eventually went on to win the game 36-30 in triple-overtime, and Kentucky was not pleased that the Gators were not issued a 5-yard delay of game penalty.
In response to the outcry from Kentucky, the SEC released a statement Sunday in defense of the officials.
The statement, in full, reads:
At the request of the University of Kentucky, consistent with SEC protocol, the conference office reviewed the fourth down play in the first overtime of the Kentucky-Florida game and has determined the officials applied the proper mechanics and guidelines that are in place to determine when a flag should be thrown for delay of game. The back judge is responsible for delay of game calls. The procedure for the back judge is for his eyes to stay on the clock when it nears zero. When the clock hits zero, he immediately looks from the clock to the ball. If the ball is moving, there is no delay of game. If the ball is stationary, a delay of game penalty is called.
Here’s the video of the play, courtesy of Saturday Down South. We’ll let you be the judge.
It’s hard to fault the back judge on the play when he has to make the call in a fraction of a second. Human error is part of the equation in a situation like that. This happens a few times in every game, it just happened to be at the most critical juncture of this particular game. It’s a tough break for Kentucky.
For more Kentucky news, CatsIllustrated.com.
For more Florida news, visit InsideTheGators.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
From Dr. Saturday - NCAAF - Yahoo Sports - SEC releases statement defending officials in Florida-Kentucky game (Video)
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