On television and in the stadium, the moment looked comical. With Tennessee moving fast on offense in the second quarter, Alabama football evidently wanted to make substitution, but couldn’t, but got a clock stoppage anyway, when defensive backs coach Maurice Linguist appeared to push King Mack back onto the field after the DB exited the game, before Mack went down with a mysterious injury.

The calls of fake injuries used to slow down games have been rampant in the SEC this season. But to observers, Saturday’s Alabama showing in its 24-17 loss, which resulted in an illegal substitution penalty, looked especially egregious.

On Monday, when asked to explain what happened, defensive coordinator Kane Wommack maintained keyfabe.

“We tell guys, if you’re injured, if you’re hurt, if you’re pulling up with a cramp, you have to go down in that situation,” Wommack said. “We’re not able to substitute someone when a team is going fast, so if you’re injured, the protocol there is for the guy to go down. Our training room does a tremendous job. They got a guy back after however long it was.”

Even ESPN color analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy called the play “a fake injury” during the broadcast on ABC. Crimson Tide head coach Kalen DeBoer argued with the officials after the illegal substitution penalty, but the five yards were marked off, and Mack returned to the game shortly.

The issue of potentially fake injuries has been an SEC-wide discussion this season. After some fairly obvious clock-stoppers by Ole Miss, the school issued a statement about them earlier in October.

“Feigned injuries has become a notable topic in college football, and we realize our program has been part of that discussion,” the Ole Miss statement read. “We have been in communication with the National Coordinator for Football Officiating and provided relevant medical information for his review to answer questions about recent injuries.

“We have also updated the SEC office, and our head coach will communicate with our coaches and players to ensure we conduct ourselves properly and are compliant in this matter.”

Alabama returns to action Saturday against Missouri at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The game is scheduled to kick off at 2:45 p.m. CT and will be aired on ABC.