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The Alabama OL was not called for holding one time during the game.  Imagine that !


https://twitter.com/i/status/1578931142203703297

The A$M OL was not called for holding one time during the game. Imagine that!

Notice I didn’t blame the outcome on the refs.  I just think it’s odd that Bama, and apparently TAMU, DID NOT GET called for offensive holding.

FIFY.


As a matter of fact, Bama has had the opponent called for offensive holding but TWO times in their SIX games.

1 play aside, you cannot possibly claim bama gets calls. we are last in sec in penalties called against us, and near dead last in whole ncaa, at 122nd. not that they're undeserved, mind you. this team is undisciplined, which is surprising. but refs aren't letting them off the hook either.

as for holding specifically, refs, for whatever reason, seem to swallow whistles during bama games. no, bama doesn't get called for holding a lot. but neither do they get holding calls for them on defense. and with probably the best tandem of rushers in cfb, and one of the best ever, you can't tell me they never get held. and no, i'm not naive enough to think bama doesn't hold either. refs call it equal both ways, just seems they decided not to call it at all, for either team, for some reason. my theory, bama games get out of hand early enough that they just let it go to get game over with quicker.

here is a michigan blog post from 4-5 years ago with data on lack of holding calls for bama. quick recap, bama gets the fewest holding calls in their favor in cfb. and by a huge amount. https://mgoblog.com/diaries/offensive-holding-b1g-and-beyond-part-deux
since then, it's "gotten better", and by that i mean bama is usually in the middle of the pack and not some crazy outlier. this is also only considering total penalties, i don't have data on holding specific calls.

In 'Opponent Penalty Yards per Penalty', Bama ranks #123 at 7.5 yards. Meaning that for every penalty that has been called against a FBS opponent, Bama has received an average of 7.5 yards per penalty. Meaning that major penalties called against a Bama opponent are few and far between. A$M is ranked #6. They get 10.2 yards per penalty.

https://www.teamrankings.com/college-football/stat/opponent-penalty-yards-per-penalty

Note that in Away games, Bama gets 5.5 yards per penalty. And A$M gets 11 yards per penalty! At Home, Bama gets 8.2 and A$M gets 8.9

From the play-by-play account:

• 3rd & 10 at ALA 27
  (0:23 - 4th) Haynes King pass complete to Moose Muhammad III for 12 yds to the Alab 15 for a 1ST down

How the hell can the white hat standing directly behind the QB and looking directly at the play not call that!?

I love Gumps.  Never change.  

That's not even a hypothesis that would cross my mind.  I don't see the obvious or attractive motivation for the refs to think that way.

However, I have seen many games in cfb, and even a few in the NFL, where refs appeared to swallow whistles on 3rd or 4th consecutive offenses.  Like a team will get called for holding twice in a row, it's 3rd and 30, and then they commit holding again, plain as day, and the refs don't blow the whistle.  It's like they start feeling bad for piling on the team or something.  Seen it with PI, holding, and false starts.  Particularly if it's the same guy committing the foul.  

this is what i meant when i said that refs swallow the whistle on oline holding in bama games. neither team gets any calls. and it's been that way for damn near a decade now, if not longer. that aforementioned blog had data that went back to 2014, i think. no idea why. original theory was that bama's games were blowouts from the jump and the refs just let it play to get game over with sooner. but for games like this one, that obviously doesn't hold.

Bama has been at the bottom of the opponent-penalty charts in the site I linked above for more than 10 years.