Did officials miss a Dowdle fumble? Vols say yes

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Darrin Kirkland Jr. thought he’d forced a fumble. The officials didn’t see it that way.

One play before South Carolina scored a third-quarter touchdown to tie Saturday’s game at 24, Kirkland and fellow Tennessee linebacker Daniel Bituli stuffed Rico Dowdle short of the end zone.

“I felt like I punched the ball out,” Kirkland said after the Vols’ 27-24 loss at Williams-Brice Stadium. “We just didn’t get the call to go our way. We’ve just got to keep playing.”

Bituli emerged from a mess off bodies with the football. He jogged the length of the field to the end zone, but officials had blown the play dead.

“It was a fumble,” defensive tackle Shy Tuttle said. “He wasn’t down. He was on top of some offensive linemen.”

Bituli wasn’t available for postgame interviews.

There was no stoppage for a video review. Ty’Son Williams scored on a 1yard run on the next play.

Had it been ruled a fumble, the Vols likely would have gotten possession at their 1-yard line. Bituli’s butt was on the ground when he was first seen with the ball. He got up and headed toward the end zone. No Gamecocks pursued him.

“(The officials) just said they blew it dead,” Tuttle said. The whole sequence was a bit chaotic. South Carolina’s drive started with a 73-yard pass from Jake Bentley to Bryan Edwards. That gave the Gamecocks firstand-goal from the 2-yard line. Williams plunged ahead on the following play for a 1-yard gain.

The Gamecocks snapped their next play, and Dowdle appeared to get in the end zone, but whistles rang out. The play didn’t count. Officials had been buzzed to review the first-down run.

Replays showed that Williams might have gotten into the end zone, but there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn the call. The spot remained at the 1.

Then came Dowdle’s run that the Vols thought was a fumble. Dowdle and Hback Kiel Pollard got tangled up on the play. It unraveled from there, but the play didn’t go as badly as it could have been for the Gamecocks.