Once Again, Officials Give Alabama A Major Boost

The LSU Tigers fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide in Death Valley Saturday night by a final score of 10-0. The loss was heartbreaking from many angles, and was an absolute punch to the gut for anyone who thought this team could get back into the picture for a spot in the College Football Playoffs.

LSU was outdone in almost every possible way. Nick Saban out-coached Ed Orgeron, the Alabama defense did not allow the Tiger offense to get anything going all night long, and despite a valiant effort by the LSU defense, the Crimson Tide offense still found a way to get the job done late in the game.

Our team was outplayed, and I can accept that, for the most part. But, as usual when we play the Alabama Crimson Tide, there are some very important issues for us to talk about regarding the SEC officiating crew.

When you are a fan of team in the SEC not named Alabama, you except to be on the wrong end of some clear bias whenever it’s your turn to square off with Nick Saban and the Tide. The refs tend to slip on their crimson glasses right before the opening kick off, and Alabama teams always seem to get one or two calls (or missed calls) throughout the night that completely change the momentum of the game.

We saw that big time in Saturday night’s contest, as the referees had a direct impact on the play that single-handedly decided the outcome of the game.

Throughout the course of the night, there were a few calls that had me on my feet yelling at my TV. In the moment, those seemed like big deals, but ultimately those particular drives ended up not having much of an impact. But, there was one call in the fourth quarter that helped decide it all.

Alabama had moved the ball down the field and was in prime position to break the scoreless tie that the two teams had been deadlocked in for such a long stretch. LSU had already had one huge goal line stop earlier in the game, so an Alabama score was not a sure thing.

On the play that would ultimately break the tie and put LSU down for good, Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Hurts kept the ball and ran it in himself for the score. But upon replay of the scoring play, it was very clear that the officials had missed an absolutely blatant holding by an Alabama player. Now, you can give me the “there’s holding on every play” argument, but this was one of the most obvious holds you will ever see, and the refs conveniently missed it.

Ultimately, LSU deserved to lose this game. They got outplayed and out-coached, so their loss really isn’t all that controversial. But the fact that Alabama gets this help from officials in key moments seemingly every week is starting to get old. I wish I could tell you it’s going to change someday, but the reality is, it probably won’t.