Many Ohio State supporters were enraged when a questionable roughing the passer call against Kenyatta Jackson Jr. wiped out a Davison Igbinosun interception against Tennessee. Jim Knowles was among them.
On Friday, Ohio State's defensive coordinator voiced his disagreement with the flag.
"He didn't do anything wrong," Knowles said.
Roughing the passer...? pic.twitter.com/nOj5GwzbUt
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Jackson's hit on Iamaleava came simultaneously with Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava's release of the ball, negating the possibility of the hit being late. That very fact seems to negate the definition of roughing the passer in the NCAA rulebook under rule 9, section 1, article 9, which states that it must be “obvious” that the ball is out of the quarterback's hand.
No defensive player shall unnecessarily rough a passer, when it is obvious the ball has been thrown.
Forcibly driving a quarterback into the ground and landing on him “with action that punishes the player” is considered roughing the passer per the rulebook, but only if that first stipulation is met. It's arguable whether Jackson forcibly drove Iamaleava into the ground, but the hit was not late or dirty, Knowles said.
"That's a really tough call, because you're into the quarterback, so it's one of those things that's like, OK, I'm into the quarterback. If he pulled the ball down and I landed on him, that wouldn't be a penalty, would it," Knowles said. "So if I'm here on the quarterback, OK, well, pull it down, sack. They're not going to call it. That's not a penalty. But release the ball, and then it's a penalty? So it wasn't late. It wasn't dirty. It was clean in my eyes."
Controversial call aside, Jackson's been finding a bigger role in Ohio State's defense as the year has progressed. He played 23 snaps against Tennessee and has cleared 20 snaps in three of the Buckeyes' last five games. He has 13 tackles and 1.5 sacks this season.
"He's a really talented young man and he's moved himself into that position through his work ethic and things he's shown us in practice and in games," Knowles said. "He's just moved himself into that area where he could be a starter, and he's earned it."
