Mount Cody Helps Stave Off “Rocky Top” Renditions, SEC Avoids Another Controversy

Tennessee and Alabama played a close, conservative game to the death this afternoon, but the tight grip only did in the Vols. Above, we have what happens when you get into field goal range, then sit on the ball with plays that waste 40 seconds of valuable time: Terrence Cody blocked this kick, his second of the day, and preserved Alabama’s 12-10 win and their perch atop the AP Poll and SEC West.

But watch the lower-right corner of the brackish video around the 0:22 mark, and you can see Cody remove his helmet on the field. With the recent history of SEC refs, could the crew have blown that call?

Possibly. But this crew didn’t: Search “helmet” in this PDF and it seems clear that the foul would have been a dead ball penalty that would have been at most fifteen yards against Alabama after the change of possession.

SEC bigwigs in Birmingham must be breathing easier because of that. That’s not the only place in Alabama thanking their lucky stars for narrowly avoided disaster tonight.

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