Texas held off Tennessee 20-17 on Saturday, but a controversial special teams play gave the Volunteers a chance to change the game late. The SEC now admits that officials missed a call on the play, confirming that Tennessee should not have been allowed to continue the sequence.
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Two days after the game at Neyland Stadium, the conference released a statement addressing the officiating mistake that had drawn attention since the final whistle.
“The SEC has announced that Tennessee’s onside kick against Texas was incorrectly officiated and should have resulted in a 5-yard penalty on Tennessee and a replay of the down,” Pete Nakos reported via an X post. “On a kickoff, a free kick must be made from the kicking team’s 35-yard line. The ball was one yard behind the 35.”
Here’s what happened: the Volunteers attempted an onside kick when the score was down 20-17 with 1:22 left and no timeouts. Instead of kicking the ball off the ground, Punter Jackson Ross used a drop kick and faked one direction before switching to the other.
The spinning ball bounced off Texas receiver Ryan Wingo’s hands before Tennessee’s Arion Carter recovered it deep in Longhorns territory.
Officials initially flagged the play, but after discussing it, they picked up the flag and ruled the kick legal. Now, after two days of the game, the SEC said the officials had made the wrong call and that the penalty should have stood.
“The onside kick with 1:22 to play in the Texas at Tennessee football game on Saturday was incorrectly officiated and should have resulted in a five-yard penalty on Tennessee and a replay of the down,” the SEC said in its statement. “A drop kick is permissible, but a free kick must be made from the kicking team’s restraining line, which is the 35-yard line on a kickoff, unless relocated by penalty. The ball was at least one yard behind the 35-yard line when it was kicked.
“The Southeastern Conference regrets the error and will continue working with the Secretary/Editor for NCAA Football Rules and officials to ensure consistent application of free-kick rules.”
In fact, there were two separate violations packed into one play.
First, Ross kicked the ball from the 34-yard line instead of the required 35, putting the kick a full yard behind where the rules demanded it be started.
Second, Ross moved laterally between the hash marks after the officials had already signalled the ball ready for play, which kickers aren’t allowed to do unless there’s a timeout in between.
The rulebook prohibits this type of movement once the play clock starts, which is why Ross’ fake toward one side before dropping the kick toward the other was flagged.
No wonder Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was unhappy with the officiating and wanted an understanding of the legality of the kick.
The SEC’s admission matters because the missed call directly gave Tennessee its final chance to tie or win the game. Texas’ defense bailed out the Longhorns, holding Tennessee to five yards on four plays before batting down Faizon Brandon’s final Hail Mary.
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For Tennessee, the ruling doesn’t change the 20-17 loss or its 3-1 record and 0-1 start in SEC play. But it does give the Volunteers a clearer idea of how officials will handle similar trick-play situations going forward.
Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel did not back down when asked about the missed call, insisting his staff had done their homework before.
“That kick was actually run previously inside of this league,” Heupel said. “We had had earlier communication with the league as well. We’ll adjust to the new ruling, the ruling we got today as I was walking down here.”
Meanwhile, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian kept his comments brief once the SEC weighed in, simply noting he had already gotten the clarification he wanted.
“I’ve addressed it with the Southeastern Conference; I’ve addressed it with John McDaid, the head of our officials. They’ve addressed the issue, so I don’t think there’s much more to say on that.”
Now, Texas moves forward with consecutive wins, heading into a bye week before the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma, while Tennessee is set to play against Auburn.