Tennessee football: Refs costing Vols vs. Purdue in postseason becoming a tradition

Last Thursday, there was no way to deny that two missed calls late cost Tennessee football against the Purdue Boilermakers. The most obvious one is in overtime, where Jaylen Wright was clearly in the end zone before the whistle blew. However, the refs arbitrarily ruled forward progress, so UT was “stopped” on 4th and goal.

Before that, though, in regulation, the Vols lost out on a shot at an easier game-winning field goal because of another missed call. Near midfield with less than 20 seconds left, Cedric Tillman beat his man for a clear touchdown. However, a clear hold resulted in an incomplete pass. The hold wasn’t called, which was why Chase McGrath had such a long field goal attempt.

Obviously, Tennessee football was cost a shot at an 8-5 season because of those two clear missed calls. However, on a deeper scale, it seems as if the Vols are becoming prone to losing to Purdue in postseason games thanks to missed calls by the officials.

Remember the 2019 NCAA Tournament? The men’s Tennessee basketball team came back from 18 down to take the lead on Purdue in the second half. They were up 82-80 with two seconds left, and Carson Edwards took a desperation three. He kicked out his leg to draw contact, but the Vols were still called for the foul.

If that was truly a foul on UT, there’s no way Edwards would have been able to land on his feet. However, he sank both free throws, and the Boilermakers won the game in overtime, costing UT’s best team in maybe history a shot at the Elite Eight.

To be fair to Purdue, they played the Music City Bowl much more short-handed than UT. The Vols had no business allowing it to get that close, and they likely could have easily won if their secondary did its job. That unit’s play without Alontae Taylor is very concerning for the future.

However, the you can’t overlook those calls, and that they once again came against the Purdue program, this is becoming somewhat of an alarming tradition for Rocky Top. What are the chances that happens against the same team in two different sports?

It seems like the Vols may be cursed against Purdue. Tennessee football and Tennessee basketball have now both been cost a postseason game against Purdue, so watch out for the Lady Vols, baseball, softball and other sports.