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The Kentucky Wildcats had many exciting wins and great moments in the 2018 college football season. But none was more thrilling than the last second, come from behind victory to take down Missouri in Columbia.
If you recall, Kentucky had a lot of trouble putting points on the board until the last few minutes of the game. However, the defense allowed zero first downs in the second half to keep the Wildcats in the game. After a late Lynn Bowden punt return for a touchdown, Terry Wilson led the team on a potential game winning drive.
As time expired, Ahmad Wagner caught a pass from Wilson but landed out of bounds. While many thought the game had ended, a little white flag allowed Kentucky to get one final, untimed, down. That ultimately led to a touchdown catch by CJ Conrad to give the Wildcats the victory.
However, Missouri fans, players, coaches, and apparently journalists are still steaming about the pass interference call that allowed for Kentucky to have a chance to win with the last play. Was it a good call, or were the Wildcats bailed out? Check out the video here and decide for yourself.
The call that made it possible. pic.twitter.com/iyHrfo8RDp
— Brandon Kiley (@BKSportsTalk) October 27, 2018
In a lengthy article for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on SEC officiating, Dave Matter went in hard about the call in an article released on Thursday.
“No player in the SEC knows the sting of controversial officiating decisions more than [DeMarkus] Acy,” Matter wrote. “As the game clock turned to zeroes last Oct. 27 against Kentucky, Acy was flagged for pass interference in the end zone, even though it was Wildcats receiver Ahmad Wagner who clearly delivered the most contact, trying to twist off Acy’s head like a bottlecap. The Wildcats were rewarded an untimed down, which they used to score the game-winning touchdown. Odom discussed the penalty with Shaw after the game — he publicly declined to discuss how that conversation went — but insisted Acy defended the play with perfect form.”
Whether or not you agree with the call, I feel like Matter’s recounting of the play is a bit over the top. Obviously this play is still under the skin of the Tigers, who have lost four in a row to Kentucky at this point.
While the win over Missouri last season was incredibly exciting, it is made even sweeter for Big Blue Nation to know how much head space Kentucky occupies in the minds of Missouri fans.