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I had Vandy and felt that the refs were scared to make this call according to the rules.  I have seen several times not being able to everturn a call due to the ref blowing the whistle, the commentators were idiots as well, they had no clue that the whistel had blown and they too like these zebras must have had their xmas bonus on Ten, because they never mentioned the whistle after the call was made.  This game was fishy from the beggining for those of you who really paid attention.  Did anyone else notice on Vandys last poss when Rogers threw the ball out of bounds, the ball hit the ground and the clock ran off two extra seconds from like 24 seconds to 22 or something like that, someone was trying to tick off the seconds for sure.  In the end I felt like the refs were on Ten, as well as the crooked commentators.  Obviously the Tenn players knee didnt touch the ground, but it should not have been over turned due to the play being blown dead.  Obviously if I were on Ten, I would be ok with the outcome.  Goes both ways, I have won some games this way also.  Congrats to all the lucky Vol winners.  And I hope the refs get a pair of balls for xmas.

An easy FG, yeah, cause Vandy didnt block any FG's during this game...

OK...  go easy....  I  will agree that a whistle blows the  play  dead. inadvertent or  not,,, the  play is  dead.  I  was  reacting to the comment that stated that the whistle was  not blown.What  was  announced by the  head refereee

Curles  addressed the Tennessee hometown crowd: "The previous play is under further review. Although the runner's knee was ruled down, there was no whistle or signal."

 

Then, today the SEC issued the foloowing  statement....

On the last play of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game, in overtime, the Tennessee defender intercepted the pass, his knee did not touch the ground and he returned the interception for a touchdown. During the play, the head linesman incorrectly ruled that the Tennessee player's knee was down when he intercepted the pass by blowing his whistle and giving the dead ball signal. The play was reviewed as if there was no whistle on the field, and as a result, overturned the incorrect ruling. By rule, if there was a whistle blown, the play is not reviewable.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - The Southeastern Conference says it incorrectly reviewed the final play of Tennessee's overtime win against Vanderbilt on Saturday night.

Eric Gordon intercepted Jordan Rodgers on the play and ran the ball 90 yards to the end zone for what ended up being the winning score in the Vols' 27-21 victory.

The officials first ruled Gordon down at the Tennessee 35 but overturned the call after the review.

SEC Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw said in a statement that linesman blew his whistle when he thought Gordon's knee hit the ground. Shaw said that because a whistle blew, the play should not have been reviewable.

Had the play not been reviewed, Tennessee would have got the ball at the 25-yard line for its first offensive play in overtime.

There were multiple upsets in the top 10, the BCS is a mess and we saw the craziest endings so far. But unfortunately, outshining all of that for me was a very poor decision by officials in the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game that gave the Volunteers the victory.

Ironically, it was the right call; but according to the rules, it was all wrong.

Let me set the scene:

Vanderbilt had the ball, third-and-6 from the Tennessee 11-yard line with the score tied at 21 in the first possession of overtime.

Tennessee’s Eric Gordon intercepted Jordan Rodgers’ pass at the 10 and appeared headed for the 90-yard game-winning touchdown; however, the head linesman blew a whistle and signaled that Rodgers was down.

After a review, the play was reversed and Tennessee was awarded a touchdown and the game was over.

There are multiple issues here. First, it was an inadvertent whistle by the head linesman, who apparently did not step up and admit his error. Then, to make matters worse, the referee announced that there was no whistle and there was no signal, when clearly, there were both.

At the end of the day, they got it right. Tennessee deserved to win.

But you can’t set aside a rule, or a ruling that is made on the field, just to make it right.

The SEC is going to be forced to take some action. This reflects poorly on officiating on every level.

If you make a mistake, admit it. You have to step up when you make an error. Credibility and integrity are at stake.

The replay rule gives the replay official the option to correct an “egregious error,” even if it’s beyond the scope of the replay rules. I can’t see how that would apply here, because the whistle was blown and the signal was given at the 10-yard line. The play is essentially over at that point, and players who hear the whistle stop.

So based on the ruling, Tennessee should have gotten the ball at the 25-yard line for its overtime series.

The SEC issued a statement Sunday. Coordinator of Officials Steve Shaw said that the linesman blew his whistle when he thought Gordon's knee hit the ground. Because the whistle blew, Shaw said the play should not have been reviewable.

I feel horrible for that officiating crew, but somebody had to step up — and nobody did.