Tulane unhappy with pass interference flag after K-State win: ‘It was a Big 12 crew’

For a brief moment, it looked like Kansas State and Tulane were heading to overtime.

When Green Wave quarterback Darian Mensah connected with Yulkeith Brown in the left corner of the end zone in the waning moments of the fourth quarter on Saturday at Yulman Stadium, it was ruled a touchdown and the home crowd went bonkers.

Tulane had just pulled to within one point of K-State. Head coach Jon Sumrall sent the kicking team onto the field for an extra point that would potentially tie the game at 34-all.

But the excitement didn’t last. The Big 12 officiating crew that was working the game threw a rare flag for offensive pass interference against Dontae Fleming that nullified the play and pushed Tulane back 15 yards. If the Green Wave were going to tie things up, they now had to score from much farther away.

They couldn’t make that happen in the 34-27 K-State win .

A few plays later, K-State defensive back VJ Payne jumped in front of a pass from Mensah for an interception that clinched the game for the Wildcats. Now it was the purple-clad fans dancing in the stands. The home crowd booed.

“I didn’t see the pass interference, but thankfully they called it and it gave us new life,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said. “We brought pressure and they threw a couple into the end zone where Jacob (Parrish) had really good coverage, and then VJ made the pick. We found a way to get out of here.”

That sequence of plays obviously worked out well for K-State. But did the officials get it right?

The answer probably will vary on whom you ask. The ESPN broadcast and studio crews didn’t agree with the penalty and voiced that opinion on the broadcast, which was televised to a national audience.

Local fans also didn’t agree.

There was no shortage of voices on social media claiming that Tulane “got robbed” by the officials after the game was over.

“I didn’t get very many good explanations in the second half from the officiating,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “It left a lot to be desired. That’s probably all about I can say. It was a Big 12 crew, in case you were wondering.”

But K-State fans thought the officials did their job.

Replays of the penalty show that Fleming was definitely guilty of putting his right hand on Parrish and driving the K-State defender backward as he shielded Parrish and Payne from playing defense against Brown. But it wasn’t a blatant penalty. Other officiating crews may have let it slide.

But that didn’t happen.

Payne viewed the play a different way.

“Personally, I don’t think he scored,” Payne said. “I really don’t think he scored. I don’t think he got his foot down. But they called pass interference and I was pretty happy about that.”

K-State didn’t view it as a controversial call.

“They ran the little pick route and I had to work over top,” Payne said. “In my head, I thought he didn’t score or get his foot down. The refs put their hands up and they said the touchdown. It kind of made me mad, but then they threw the flag on the offense. That gave me another opportunity to go out there make a play.”