Kevin Sumlin Contacted the SEC About the Mack Wilson Hit

RTR91 said:

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Imagine Saban doing this and then telling the media. I'm sure he's done it a few times but thankfully didn't publicize it.

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Noil was not a defenseless player. End of story. By the way, wasn't half that team last Saturday playing for aTm since Johnny Football started in 2012??? And I don't think a lot of them were freshmen then. :-o

When runners duck their head down it should eliminate the targeting rule. Why do they get a pass for not seeing what they hit? Thought they called 100% correctly.

That Aggie that got tossed was a nasty player in my book.


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I don't know; I feel like this is something that the culture has changed to fit the "realities" of replay. I can't produce examples off the cuff but I feel like I hear professional level head coaches and managers (even highly regarded ones) essentially say the same thing now all the time. MLB and NFL especially, it will get you a fine to complain about the call, but if you simply tell everyone "I submitted it to the league for clarification," everyone can read between the lines. I didn't hear Sumlin's comments so can't judge the tone and attitude, but I do think the expectations have shifted some. And then there's this from Saban: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2571281-nick-saban-submitted-complaint-over-ole-miss-pop-pass-td-to-sec-office

I don't have a problem with Sumlin asking for clarification. I think it was a clean hit, but it seemed to confuse many people on why targeting was not called. To be fair, I think many clean hits are deemed targeting as the offensive player put himself in position to be hurt.

OreBama said:

I don't have a problem with Sumlin asking for clarification. I think it was a clean hit, but it seemed to confuse many people on why targeting was not called. To be fair, I think many clean hits are deemed targeting as the offensive player put himself in position to be hurt.

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I agree...this is just a coach protecting his players. He probably said it multiple times in the game to the refs just so they would be more cautious. Shoot when I coached if I saw something like that I'd take the ref to the side and would be like ok ref got to do a better job of protecting the players. That is one of the main reasons we have refs, to protect players (the other reason is to keep auburn from cheating lol).

I see nothing wrong with Sumlin's move. It did appear to be helmet to helmet.

bamacpa said:

I see nothing wrong with Sumlin's move. It did appear to be helmet to helmet.

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Helmet to helmet doesn't have anything to do
with the rule. It's leading with the crown of the helmet which Mack did not do..

bamacon said:

When runners duck their head down it should eliminate the targeting rule. Why do they get a pass for not seeing what they hit? Thought they called 100% correctly.

That Aggie that got tossed was a nasty player in my book.


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I'm not defending Noil, but when did Noil duck his head? Yeah, he was running, but I don't think he had time to duck his head and took it right on the chin. Dang lucky he walked off the field. Definitely a teachable moment for Mack as well.

CrimsonForce said:

Helmet to helmet doesn't have anything to do
with the rule. It's leading with the crown of the helmet which Mack did not do..

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You may want to slow it down and stop it at the 35 second mark. I'm not so sure you'll see it the way I do, but it looks like he led with the crown, with his head down. I'm glad Noil is ok.

I completely agree with the runner being able to fend for himself. The QB, receiver and kicker are the defenseless players. In fact, when I think about it, the runner usually lowers his head and I think that is one reason it is not called on hitting the ball carrier.

Displaced Bama Fan said:

I'm not defending Noil, but when did Noil duck his head? Yeah, he was running, but I don't think he had time to duck his head and took it right on the chin. Dang lucky he walked off the field. Definitely a teachable moment for Mack as well.

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Look at the pic right before impact. He's at 3 ft. off the ground. You'd have to assume Mack was aiming at Noil's waste when he dove. By the time he arrives both are parallel with the ground. Mack's head is clearly up. Sometimes helmets will make contact but the rule is for the spearing type blind hit with the crown. This hit was not that IMO. I don't envy the officials because it is a serious thing to kick a guy out of a huge game and part of the next one, and some of these are so bang bang.


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I think Sumlin was being petty. Does Sumlin NOT know the rule? Of course he does. Complaining is just a ploy to get the heat of his loss. I mean, I understand complaining about judgement calls but this was not a judgement call. It is a black and white rule. Sumlin knows the call was correct. Any one who complains does not understand what a ball carrier is.

theballguy said:

Noil was not a defenseless player. End of story. By the way, wasn't half that team last Saturday playing for aTm since Johnny Football started in 2012??? And I don't think a lot of them were freshmen then. :-o

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Actually, that's NOT the end of the story since it does not REQUIRE a defenseless player (it says OR not AND)

bamacon said:

Look at the pic right before impact. He's at 3 ft. off the ground. You'd have to assume Mack was aiming at Noil's waste when he dove. By the time he arrives both are parallel with the ground. Mack's head is clearly up. Sometimes helmets will make contact but the rule is for the spearing type blind hit with the crown. This hit was not that IMO. I don't envy the officials because it is a serious thing to kick a guy out of a huge game and part of the next one, and some of these are so bang bang.


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OK I am confused. The ball carrier is not defenseless. Does it matter if Mack led with the crown? If so, then it has nothing to do with the ball carrier being defenseless. Exactly what is the rule?

I think it was when we were playing Ol Sis that our QB took a helmet to helmet hit and fumbled that resulted in a touchdown, the player that hit Jalen I felt should have been penalized for targeting but he wasn't and we moved on. Not sure if CNS contacted the SEC or not.

selmaborntidefan said:

Actually, that's NOT the end of the story since it does not REQUIRE a defenseless player (it says OR not AND)

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Thanks for putting this up. I read it twice and don't see a problem with the call. Clearly the ball carrier was not defenseless by their definitions of wrapped up, already on the ground and so on.

bamacon said:

Look at the pic right before impact. He's at 3 ft. off the ground. You'd have to assume Mack was aiming at Noil's waste when he dove. By the time he arrives both are parallel with the ground. Mack's head is clearly up. Sometimes helmets will make contact but the rule is for the spearing type blind hit with the crown. This hit was not that IMO. I don't envy the officials because it is a serious thing to kick a guy out of a huge game and part of the next one, and some of these are so bang bang.


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I'm looking at the video and he's running straight up. He never saw Mack.

Displaced Bama Fan said:

You may want to slow it down and stop it at the 35 second mark. I'm not so sure you'll see it the way I do, but it looks like he lead with the crown, with his head down. I'm glad Noil is ok.

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It was not called targeting by the officials on the field. They reviewed it during the game and said it wasn't targeting. The SEC office has reviewed again and said it wasn't targeting. Maybe it wasn't targeting..

I'll be honest, if the roles were reversed and that same hit was an A&M player on a Bama RB, then I would have been screaming bloody murder at the TV for the flag to be thrown. So, I don't blame Sumlin or A&M fans for being upset, I would be as well. I just think this shows how stupid of a rule this is, it is way to much of a judgement call. In the end, I think the hit was clean but, I definitely see why others disagree. I just hate this rule with a passion, especially since offensive players seem to be immune. If a WR or RB lowers their head and leads with the crown (this happens a lot) they should be flagged as well but, it's never flagged which makes this rule 100% unfair IMO.