Late call gave Vols extra time for last drive

The SEC's supervisor of officials, Bobby Gaston, agreed.

At issue was a play that unfolded in the final minute involving Tennessee cornerback Jonathan Wade and Gators' receiver Dallas Baker that helped the Vols win a 30-28 thriller.

UT stopped DeShawn Wynn on a third-and-3 at the Florida 38, and Wade and Baker exchanged blows after the whistle. Wade shoved first, and Baker retaliated and was flagged for a dead ball personal foul, costing the Gators 15 yards and stopping the clock with 55 seconds left. Florida punted and UT took the ball at its own 39 with 43 seconds remaining.

Gators' coach Ron Zook said the personal-foul penalties should have been offsetting, thus Florida wouldn't have lost 15 yards in field position. Furthermore, Zook said the clock should have restarted when the ball was placed. Instead, the clock didn't start until the ball was snapped, giving UT an extra 22 or 23 seconds once it regained possession.

Gaston agreed with Zook where the game clock was concerned.

"We left it to start on the snap when we should have started it on the wind (placement of ball),'' Gaston told the Associated Press.

There were 13 seconds on the clock when James Wilhoit lined up for the game-winning field goal.

"They don't have any timeouts and you are dealing with very little time,'' Zook said.

UT coach Phillip Fulmer wasn't too sympathetic.

"Things go around, sometimes,'' Fulmer said. "We complained loudly about a dropped ball up here a few years ago that was supposedly a catch.''

Fulmer's reference was to Jabar Gaffney's controversial TD catch in the final seconds of a 27-23 Florida win.

Earlier in the fourth quarter, the play clock malfunctioned in Florida's favor with the Gators at their own 6, giving Chris Leak time to re-huddle the team. Also, UT freshman QB Erik Ainge had to operate with the play-clock being kept on the field during a fourth-quarter UT drive.