Why Hugh Freeze was rightfully steamed after SEC officials miss penalty in Auburn’s loss at Oklahoma

The SEC has admitted fault on behalf of the league’s officiating crew which missed a blatant penalty in No. 11 Oklahoma’s 24-17 victory Saturday over No. 22 Auburn that resulted in a walk-in touchdown by the Sooners. Tigers coach Hugh Freeze demanded answers on the sideline early in the second quarter after Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer lofted a 24-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Isaiah Sategna after officials failed to notice the Sooners’ “hideout tactic” on the play late in the first half.

Sategna walked toward the Oklahoma sideline as if he was subbing out before stopping just before he got to the boundary. He appeared to fake a substitution, remaining on the field and was uncovered by Auburn on the play which gave the Sooners a 10-3 lead.

The SEC said in a statement “if properly officiated, the second down play should have resulted in an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty of 15 yards assessed from the previous spot. Appropriate accountability will be applied without additional comment.”

Freeze reacted to the play sitting next to his quarterback, Jackson Arnold.

“The one where we tried to call a timeout? I guarantee you, well, I better be quiet,” Freeze said, before limiting his opinion in fear of being fined. “They said they didn’t hear us trying to call timeout. We’ll see … we were instructed all offseason about deception plays and things. So, we’ll see what’s said. I really don’t know what will be said about that.”

The SEC said in its statement that Oklahoma’s receiver violated NCAA Rule 9-2, Article 2, which states: 

“no simulated replacements or substitutions may be used to confuse opponents. No tactic associated with substitutes or the substitution process may be used to confess opponents. This includes any hideout tactic with or without a substitution.”

This was one of the points of emphasis during the offseason that the NCAA Rules Committee hoped to fix this fall, though this move by Oklahoma doesn’t quite fall under the ‘disconcerting signals’ or ‘pre-snap movement’ classification, but is considered a ‘substitution’ infraction.

The committee closed a similar loophole exploited last year by Oregon coach Dan Lanning, who intentionally left too many players on the field in the final seconds of a win over Ohio State to bleed time off the clock. Starting in 2025, substitution infractions are treated as live-ball fouls. If committed inside the final two minutes of a half, the offense may reset the clock to the time displayed at the snap in addition to gaining 5 yards.

It appeared the Sooners were bringing a player off the field, but Sategna did not come off entirely. This was clearly designed by Oklahoma’s offensive staff and unfortunately for Auburn, worked to perfection after Mateer saw his teammate without a defender.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle called the touchdown a “tempo play” for the Sooners, while coach Brent Venables denied the move being under the table, saying they confirmed with an official before that snap that “everything’s good and legal.”