It’s pure sour grapes. How many times has Alabama run a play like that? Too many to count.
Just about every coach runs pick plays...and complains about pick plays.
I don’t like them. No, the entire loss cannot be pinned on that - letting Clemson move the ball the length of the field in 2 minutes lost the game. But I’d still like for pick plays to be cleaned up.
There is a youtube video of ‘bama using the same play against LSU in 2014.
If ‘bama was so great how did they end up in this position at the end of the game. There were probably around 150 or so plays prior to this one, and from what I’ve noticed over the years, the refs could call a penalty on almost any play - if they go by a strict interpretations of rules. Sometimes they don’t call a late hit or sometimes they don’t call a clip because it was 25 yards away from the play - but it was still a clip, etc. Refs use judgement in their calls (a friend of mine is a H.S. football ref) and therefore there will always be controversy.
Whatever, from the article, even players on the sideline were yelling “watch for the pick” - Alabama needed to play 60 minutes but they played 59:59. Too bad.