Report: SEC Officiating Crew gave Oklahoma green light in pregame on controversial play

The Oklahoma Sooners earned a big-time win over the Auburn Tigers on Saturday, 24-17 in Norman. But it wasn't without controversy. There was a fumble returned for a touchdown that was overturned on Oklahoma's first drive of the game, which would have given Auburn an early 7-0 lead.

But the play that's been at the forefront of the postgame discussion was Isaiah Sategna's touchdown reception from John Mateer .

After a first down run, Sategna walked toward the sideline and could be seen chatting with the coaching staff. He the proceeded to line up near the sideline and checked with the official to make sure he was lined up properly before Mateer received the snap and threw to Sategna, who was wide open for the touchdown.

On the broadcast, the commentary team, which included the ABC rules analyst, took exception to the play, saying it used the substitution process to deceive Auburn. But Sategna never walked off the field and Oklahoma never substituted prior to the play.

On the radio broadcast with Toby Rowland and Teddy Lehman, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops shared that the Sooners offense practiced the play in the week leading up to the Auburn game.

In the aftermath of the controversial win by the Sooners, the SEC released a statement affirming what the broadcast said, stating it should have been a 15-yard penalty.

After the game, Brent Venables said, "We didn't substitute. We were on the field. We asked the official. We're lined up, we're on the ball, everything is good and legal. We weren't in a big hurry, so, yeah." Oklahoma's stance is supported by a report from News 9 Sports Director and radio voice of Oklahoma Football, Toby Rowland.

Rowland reported late Sunday evening that the OU coaching staff discussed the planned play with the SEC officiating crew in their pregame meeting, and the officials gave it the green light.

The Oklahoma Sooners had no reason to believe the play would be considered controversial because they got the go ahead before the game. In the game, the sideline official gave Sategna the go-ahead with his positioning, and no official blew the play dead or threw a flag on the play.

Whether it was legal or not, it was ruled legal on the field and the game is over. Oklahoma won and is now 4-0 and 1-0 in SEC play.

Time to move along to the bye week and begin getting ready for Kent State and Texas after that.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Oklahoma approached SEC officiating crew pregame about Sategna TD