Alabama DB Flagged for Epic Meltdown in Waning Moments of Loss to Vanderbilt

Malachi Moore drew a 15-yard penalty for his antics before the final whistle.
Moore, No. 13, had 10 tackles against the Commodores
Moore, No. 13, had 10 tackles against the Commodores / Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Alabama Crimson Tide suffered its most devastating regular season loss in years on Saturday, falling to the Vanderbilt Commodores, 40-35. And there was nobody more visibly upset about it than defensive back Malachi Moore, who went through an epic on-field meltdown in the last minute before getting flagged for kicking the ball away from officials.

After quarterback Diego Pavia ran for the game-ending first down with just over a minute remaining, Moore could be spotted on-screen acting quite unhappy as Vanderbilt's offense set up to kneel the ball. He appeared to throw his mouthguard in frustration, then screamed in the direction of his teammates. As Vandy snapped the ball and Pavia kneeled, Moore continued to pace and was visibly worked up.

Then, to put a cap on it, Moore wandered over to where the officials were spotting the ball for second down and booted it away. He was quickly hit with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Moore has started at safety for the Crimson Tide in each of the last four seasons and was named a captain ahead of his fifth in 2024. Clearly, his emotions got the better of him here, even if the penalty was ultimately meaningless.


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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.