Soft unnecessary roughness penalty leads to Alabama TD, ticks off Vol Twitter

During SEC Media Days in July, the league announced that it was creating an officiating-based Twitter account, @SECOfficiating, to help explain key plays and rulings throughout the college football season.

A word of advice: Don't check the mentions this weekend.

Why? Because when Tennessee defensive end Darrell Taylor hopped off of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with minimal contact after causing a wayward throw on third down, referee Hubert Owens threw a flag.

Personal foul, unnecessary roughness. Fifteen yards and an automatic first down, instead of an Alabama punt in an eight-point game on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa.

Really? Judge for yourselves. 

At best, Taylor nudged the back of Jones' helmet. At worst, this was an egregious protection of the quarterback and a game intrusion by an officiating crew that had already called 15 penalties in two-and-a-half quarters to that point. 

To make things worse for the Vols, the Crimson Tide drove the rest of the field for a touchdown on the same draft, taking a 28-13 lead midway through the third quarter.

Both starting quarterbacks had already left the game, so maybe the officiating crew was being extra cautious. Regardless, Saturday's game was impacted by a soft interpretation of contact that was certainly not "roughness."