Nick Saban Submitted Complaint over Ole Miss Pop-Pass TD to SEC Office

Nick Saban admitted his defense was undisciplined on a controversial touchdown pass in Saturday's loss to Ole Miss. That said, the Crimson Tide coach said Wednesday that he submitted replays to officials showing the pop-pass score featured Ole Miss players illegally blocking downfield.

“We always submit, as coaches, things for the benefit of helping our officials do the best job they possibly can, which I know they want to do in a game,” Saban said, per Chris Vannini of CoachingSearch.com. “We always get comments back, and they use those things to try to improve what they do. Some of this is a concern. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do it better in the future. I think we have a lot of good people in charge of officiating that’ll do the best they can to get it right.”

On the play, quarterback Chad Kelly faked a handoff and scrambled outside the pocket before finding a wide-open Cody Core for a 73-yard touchdown. Many thought Kelly was past the line of scrimmage when he threw the pass, and subsequent replays showed Rebel linemen more than three yards behind the line of scrimmage—something that should have resulted in a penalty.   

“These plays get blocked just like running plays, and people are running down the field,” Saban said. “So it looks like a run, but somebody’s running out for a pass. Hey, we work on these plays, we should cover them, we know what the rules are. We have to execute and do it correctly, which we did not."

Before complaints of sour grapes come in, this is something coaches do on a regular basis. They submit calls that were controversial or outright wrong, and then the conference officiating crew offers an explanation and/or an apology. Most of the time this practice is encouraged so it doesn't miss calls in the future.   

Plus, it's also worth noting that Saban is correct. Freshman lineman Jordan Sims was more than three yards beyond the line of scrimmage, as noted by SB Nation's College Football Twitter account:

The controversial score put Ole Miss ahead 36-24 and ultimately made the difference in the Rebels' six-point win. It's a mistake Ole Miss fans certainly welcome, but it's at least interesting to think what could have happened Saturday had the officiating crew made the correct call.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.