Whys of Texas: So was it a safety or not? As Steve Sarkisian said, ‘It just is what it is’

Nothing triggers more emails to the Whys of Texas mailbag than bad officiating.

And if my inbox is any indication of how UT fans felt after Saturday’s 20-19 loss to Alabama, well, the temperature in the stadium wasn’t the only thing that got you hot.

While walking the dogs yesterday, my neighbor across the street stopped the yardwork for a moment. “So, was it a safety?” she hollered.

So, was it a safety?

Let’s start with the definition of a tackle. A tackle is made when any part of the player’s body, other than his hands or feet, touch the ground. Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat clearly got to Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and pulled him down in the end zone.

More:As UTSA looms, Texas quarterbacks Quinn Ewers, Hudson Card are in a state of uncertainty

“That’s a safety!” Fox announcer Gus Johnson yelled to his audience.

But go back and watch the replay. Sweat pulls Young down on top of him. At no point did Young’s knee or elbow touch the ground. If that had happened, it would have probably been ruled a safety upon review.

Yes, I saw the still shots of the top of his foot or lower shin appearing to touch the ground. But from what I can tell, neither the officials nor the replay officials looked at that in any serious way. It's one of those things that you'll see or not, depending on your perspective.

I won’t even waste time on the initial call of targeting. How Big 12 referee Scott Campbell’s crew saw targeting, who the heck knows?

OK, so why did they call roughing the passer? Again, who knows? You can’t rough the passer when you’re making a legitimate tackle attempt.

What about intentional grounding, which would have made it a safety? Well, as Sarkisian pointed out after the game, intentional grounding is not reviewable, by rule.

This was train-wreck officiating.

“You know, Young’s not even down here,” Fox analyst Joel Klatt told the national audience while looking at the replay.

Johnson was even more emphatic. “The targeting call is horrible. And the roughing the passer call is horrible,” he said.

Now, the one person who deserves praise on this play — other than Sweat for a terrific effort — is Young. How he had the wherewithal to get rid of the football with a throwing motion was just incredible.

Forget about what Campbell told the crowd with his gobbledygook explanation. In the end, it was just an incomplete pass.

Bohls:Texas defense lowered the boom on Bama, raised the standard at the same time

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the call again on Monday and said, “It just is what it is.”

One thing that Sarkisian also pointed out was that for all the chaos happening, he thought the defense had excellent communication. The unit was able to change the call, which put Sweat in position to make a play. The crowd noise was full blast, and the Horns made the right tweaks at the line of scrimmage.

“It was loud,” defensive tackle Keondre Coburn said. “Trust me, it was beautiful sound.”

Was it a safety? No. Was it all that other junk? No.

It is what it is.

On to this week’s mailbag.

Q. Why didn’t the refs review whether Young touched any body part to the ground on the Texas tackle in the end zone? Safety?

— Susan

Unless I missed it, this was never explained. That should have been made clear by Campbell to the audience.

No safety because the QB's knees never touched the turf, but rather were on the UT player. Unfortunately!

— Bill

Correct, I believe. If Young had been called down for a safety on the field and that’s it, the place would have gone wild. But something tells me that call would have been overturned on review.

I believe Texas would have won had there been competent officiating. Am I seeing the contest through burnt orange sunglasses?

— Ronnie

Well, how about the non-call of defensive pass interference when Alabama’s Kool-Aid McKinstry locked up UT’s Ja’Tavion Sanders in the first quarter? That was the only other blown call I had in my notes. I mean, Alabama was flagged 15 times, one shy of the school record.

When the head coaches walked onto the field to shake hands after the game, Sark said something to Saban that seemed to upset him. Do you know what he said? It was very obvious on TV.

— Leon

TV microphones caught Saban yelling at his players who were doing Horns down hand signals. That happened right before they shook hands. But as for what those two actually said, we don’t know. Sark has deep respect for Saban, that much is certain. And I think it goes the other way, too. In fact, Sarkisian said afterward that Saban actually turned back to him and said, “How’s your quarterback?” meaning Ewers. He was legitimately concerned. I think those two have a strong respect for each other as coaches and men.

When Quinn was hurt by the Alabama defender and had to leave the game, why wasn’t the defender thrown out of the game? That’s the same crap Saban pulled against Colt McCoy in the 2010 championship game.

— Jack

I didn’t really think it was a late hit by Dallas Turner. Was it a super hard, aggressive tackle? Yes. But did Turner try and drive Ewers into the turf with malicious intent? I don’t think so. It was a hard, but unfortunate, play.

When the run game up the middle is not there, why do coaches keep calling plays up the middle? Why not go outside the tackles?

— Keith

I wasn’t around when dinosaurs roamed the Earth. But I’ve been around football long enough to know that you can’t simply abandon your game plan just because some things aren’t working. This offensive line is young overall, but it’s got a lot of talent. You have to keep chipping away at the defense. Bijan Robinson hasn’t posted a 100-yard game yet. I know he’s getting anxious. To be fair, neither team had much running game Saturday — except for Jase McClellan’s 81-yard touchdown run when he slipped through the UT defense.

Thank you, coach Gary Patterson. Obviously made a difference vs Bama.

— Mickey

Sarkisian uses words like “we” and “our” game plan when he talks about the defensive staff. He really didn’t want to give anyone, Patterson or even defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski, individual credit for the Alabama game plan. That said, Fox showed Patterson three times on the sideline. PK got a single mention. Granted, Kwiatkowski sits in the press box, but it’s not hard to direct their cameras up there. Sarkisian probably has to walk a fine line. He can’t praise Patterson too much or Kwiatkowski will start wondering about his status. So Sark typically doesn’t really praise the assistants by name at all. It’s “we” and “us.”

Have a question for the Whys of Texas mailbag? Contact Brian Davis by phone or text at 512-445-3957. Email bdavis@statesman.com or follow on Twitter via @BDavisAAS.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: So was it a Texas safety? As Sarkisian said, ‘It just is what it is.’