On Thursday night, the Purdue Boilermakers took down the Tennessee Volunteers in overtime of the Music City Bowl by a final score of 48-45.
The win for Purdue was nice – especially considering how many players the Boilermakers were without. However, the win did not come without a VERY controversial call.
On a fourth-down play in overtime, Tennessee attempted to run the ball in. The officials ruled that running back Jaylen Wright had his forward progress stopped.
Video of the play show that he never touched the ground before crossing the goal line. There was also no whistle to signal that the play was stopped before Wright scored the touchdown.
Here’s video of the play.
The officials not only didn’t take a long look at the play, they said the call on the field was “confirmed.” For that to happen, they must have seen clear evidence the runner was stopped.
Those watching at home weren’t so sure. Neither was Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, who couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Oh, you gotta be f***ing kidding me,” he could be seen telling an official.
Heupel was clearly unhappy with the call on the field and he wasn’t alone. Social media torched the officials for ruling Wright’s momentum was stopped, when it clearly wasn’t.
In the end, Purdue got the win, though.