If you had to pick one assured incident in an SEC matchup, what would it be? The refs making an egregious call is creeping up the pecking order. CFB officiating has been a point of contention forever. Especially in the southeast, the games have often entailed controversial decisions. Decisions that can potentially change the course of a season. This weekend, it was Alabama that received the short end of the monochromatic stick.

The factions lobbying to get stricter repercussions for bad officiating were loud once again in Week 13. The instigating incident involved freshman sensation Ryan Williams. There was a blown call in the 4th quarter of Bama’s untimely 3-24 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners. The Tide were already trailing. However, a 3-score game with 14 minutes on the clock should’ve been cut to a 2-score game. That’s exactly what would have happened if not for a penalty flag, which has left fans furious.

Alabama had a 4th and 3 scenario in Oklahoma territory. The offense was seemingly lined up in a legal formation with no discrepancy, as confirmed by the broadcast. QB Jalen Milroe throws a 40-yard bomb into the endzone, which finds Ryan Williams. Howeve,r what was one of the best plays of the weekend was brought back rather bemusingly. The referee cited “illegal touching” on the play, saying Williams was covered up at the snap.

The penalty was lambasted by the broadcast at the time, as well as by numerous football savants and experts. The touchdown should have apparently stood. This would’ve made the scores 24-9 before the extra point conversion. One does wonder if the momentum of their first touchdown of the day, one as amazing as that, would’ve carried the Kalen DeBoer-led Alabama Crimson Tide to a late comeback win. As it turns out, the team’s CFP hopes are now hanging by a thread.

Naturally, Bama fans were frustrated by this inexplicable mistake by the officials. As you would in 2024, they voiced their disdain over on social media. The overarching issues with officiating in the SEC were a theme of the discourse.

Fans do not mince words in voicing their frustrations

Rival fans in the conference that have been at the end of such misfortune chimed in. “I’m a Georgia fan and this pisses me off!!! That kid made a helluva play, and they flat out CHEATED Alabama!!!!” said one fan. Ryan Williams’ brilliant freshman year highlight reel has been swindled out of a clip. “When is a team going to be able to get the referees to have to take accountability for their bad calling,” questioned another.

“There needs to be an investigation into these SEC officials. I’ve been saying it for 2 years.” “Same crew from the UGA-Texas game…there needs to be a legitimate investigation into the SEC,” furthered the common notion around the officiating in the SEC. “They honestly cost LSU that South Carolina game, and who knows I know Alabama was down bad here, but they did have a little moment,” said another fan. That’s true. 

Fans were also left rueing the lack of closure in terms of what could’ve been had the TD stood. “Terrible call, if they didn’t call it back, we might have tried at the end and came back,” said a disappointed fan. Would Alabama have managed to muster a late comeback? We’ll never know. However, their season still has a pulse. A huge final week of the season awaits Kalen DeBoer and Co.