MSU in contact with SEC office regarding officiating at Alabama
Several controversial calls in Mississippi State's 24-0 loss at Alabama this past Saturday have MSU officials in contact with the Southeastern Conference.
It's common for coaches to send in plays for league officials to review each week. In that regard, Mississippi State head coach Joe Moorhead said at his weekly press conference on Monday things were business as usual.
“It was standard operating procedure,” Moorhead said. “It was a list of plays that we sent in and a response is forthcoming.”
However, Moorhead noted that Mississippi State Director of Athletics John Cohen is “handling the rest of it.”
Cohen told 247Sports on Sunday that he had personally communicated with the SEC's coordinator of football officials Steve Shaw and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.
“Both have assured me that Saturday's game with Alabama will be fully reviewed,” Cohen told 247Sports. “They also stated that official issues will be identified swiftly and dealt with directly.”
There were a number of plays on Saturday that resulted in the interaction between MSU and the league office.
In the first quarter on Alabama's opening drive, Crimson Tide running back Damien Harris looked to have fumbled. Replays seemed to indicate the ball was indeed fumbled, however play was never stopped for an official review and Harris was ruled down. Alabama later scored its first touchdown on the drive.
In the second quarter, MSU looked to have scored a touchdown on a pass from quarterback Nick Fitzgerald to running back Kylin Hill, however State receiver Deddrick Thomas was flagged for a block in the back even as replays clearly displayed Thomas barely, if at all, contacted the Alabama defender.
In all, Mississippi State was flagged seven times on Saturday. Alabama was never penalized.
According to Moorhead, if normal procedure is followed, MSU should receive a response back from the league around midweek. Mississippi State will battle Arkansas at home at 11 a.m. on Saturday and the Bulldogs seem optimistic that they'll be close to full strength.
Running back Kylin Hill has been dealing with a lower body injury since the LSU game on October 20, however he has only missed one game, has played in the last two and is listed still as day-to-day.
Also listed as day-to-day is linebacker Sh'mar KilbyLane (lower body) and defensive back Jaquarius Landrews (lower body). Kilby-Lane is expected to be available on Saturday and Moorhead said the Bulldogs are “cautiously optimistic” on Landrews.
Linebacker Leo Lewis, who missed the Alabama game due to sickness, is expected back this week as well.
With Alabama defeating Mississippi State on Saturday, the Bulldog coaching staff didn't hand out any internal awards for players of the week.
However one MSU player did earn honors for his work in the classroom.
Offensive lineman Deion
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