Arkansas State coach Butch Jones absolutely lost it on a referee during Saturday’s Camellia Bowl after an offsides call wipes away an onside kick recovery for the Red Wolves.
Down two points to the Northern Illinois Huskies, Arkansas State executed a successful onside kick to get the ball back with 1:10 to go in the game.
However, the officials called offsides on the Red Wolves, negating the recovery and putting Northern Illinois in prime position to run substantial time of the clock if the team could get a first down.
Arkansas State had time outs to prevent a full-on kneeling of the clock, but a single first down would’ve effectively ended the game for the Huskies.
In any case, Jones absolutely screamed at a referee over the call to the point where his face started to turn red. It was not a good look.
Butch Jones was turning as red as the Arkansas State logo while yelling at the refs for their offsides call on an onside kick (that Arkansas State recovered) pic.twitter.com/MTYtGLK5tB
— Video from: @TSV__1 (@TSV__1) December 23, 2023
We get being peeved over such a crucial moment being wiped away by a penalty, but Jones just lost his cool in a way that’s not going to win the officiating crew over in the final minute of the game.
Northern Illinois would do what was required to get the 21-19 victory, and Jones just probably got a sore throat from yelling as hard as he did in a ferocious temper tantrum that ultimately accomplished nothing.
Feature image courtesy of ESPN.
