The Southeastern Conference officiating crew in charge of Saturday’s Mississippi State-Memphis football game at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium released a statement postgame admitting error on a key fourth-quarter play.
A 94-yard punt return touchdown by Memphis’ Calvin Austin III was allowed to stand even as Mississippi State clearly seemed to have downed the ball deep in Tigers territory.
The SEC’s statement, released on Twitter, noted the back judge’s attempt to give a “stop the clock” motion when MSU’s Martin Emerson seemed to down the ball. Instead, no whistle was blown, and Austin picked up the ball and returned it for a touchdown.
“The inadvertent signal aspect of the play is reviewable and replay should have stopped the game to review for a potential inadvertent signal,” the league said. “The subsequent review would have placed the ball at the spot where the signal was made.”
On the same play, two Memphis players were both wearing the No. 4 jersey, a rule violation. The SEC admitted it should have resulted in a 5-yard penalty.
Austin’s touchdown gave Memphis a 28-17 lead in a game the Tigers won 31-29.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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