Georgia’s win over Alabama is marred by controversial no call as fans fume and claim ‘refs are cheating’

Georgia earned its first regular season win over Alabama in nearly two decades on Saturday night – after a little timely help from the officials.

The Bulldogs emerged as 20-17 winners at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa after a controversial finish that saw fans furious at the SEC officials.

With 3:28 left in the game and down by three, Alabama quarterback Keelon Russell fired a second-down pass towards Rico Scott in the end zone.

But Georgia defensive back KJ Bolden didn’t play the ball and made contact with Scott without turning his head to the backfield.

Those watching all waited for a flag to be thrown but officials determined it was not pass interference. The next play, Russell was sacked to move them out of field goal range, then Alabama punted and never got the ball back.

Head coach Kaleb DeBoer raged on the sidelines as officials decided not to throw a flag, while ESPN/ABC rules analyst Matt Austin saw a new angle as the Bulldogs kneeled out the clock to end the game. 

‘I didn’t have this close-up view before when I made my comments,’ Austin said. 

‘4 is definitely not playing the ball. Definitely gets there early. Ball hits him in the back. This definitely should have been a pass interference call.’

DeBoer refused to blame the referees after the game, saying: ‘We can’t put the game in the situation where the officials come into play. We got to control the things we control.’

But there was widespread anger and fury from fans immediately after seeing the shocking no-call.

The clip was shared online with the caption: ‘The refs are cheating how is this not pass interference’ as fans called it: ‘one of the worst no calls I’ve ever seen.’

‘I’ve always hated Bama and even I can see this is horrible,’ one fan responded as another pointed to an infamous NFL no-call, writing: ‘That might be a worse missed call than the rams saints playoff game.’

Another said: ‘Hes literally coming over to cause the pass interference so its not a TD because he know thats a TD catch if he doesnt. The defender is literally asking you to call a flag lol’

Others called for further action, writing: ‘Infuriated. The SEC Refs tend to be working with their eyes wide shut! Hope there is an investigation, but it doesn’t get Bama back the opportunity to win that game.’

It wasn’t the only controversial call to go in favor of the Bulldogs. Earlier in the game, Alabama wide receiver Ryan Coleman-Williams appeared to take a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit but no flag was thrown for targeting. 

One fan wrote: ‘100% targeting by rule. Officiating was so bad it’s hard to explain by mere incompetence.’

There was also an Alabama interception overturned after replay as officials determined the ball had touched the ground. 

Another fan added: ‘That was one of multiple horrible calls. Missed facemasks (at least two) missed DPI (the last one was egregious) This play? The interception…that was somehow overturned when it hit the players wrists?’

Another comment claimed: ‘That second half was about as one-sided as it gets for missed calls. Bama got screwed. Normally they get every benefit but wow did they get hosed.

Others added: ‘I hate Alabama with passion, but I have to say this game was poster child for horrific one way officiating. I’ll point to this: 4 plays called on the field were reviewed and all 4 were overturned. I would like someone to do a video montage exposing this crew. Money imo.

Finally, one fan simply concluded: ‘Georgia was 100% gifted a win tonight and we all know it.’