Tennessee defender commits the same weird penalty for the second game in a row

The first time seemed like an anomaly.  Perhaps even just bad luck.  But there was no excuse on Saturday night for a Tennessee Vols defender against Kentucky.

LB Elijah Herring was flagged for the second straight game for delay of game for simulating a snap with clapping.  The infraction occurred in the third quarter with the Vols leading 26-17.  The flag resulted in a first down for Kentucky, who drove 75 yards in 6 plays to get within 26-24 after Devin Leary threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dane Key. 

It might seem a little bit silly to flag a player for trying to communicate with his teammates or fire them up, even though the rule appears to support the penalty.  However, Herring was flagged for the same infraction in the first half against Alabama and for doing the exact same thing: clapping.  His teammate, Aaron Beasley, talked about it last week, noting that perhaps he could take a little something off the clapping moving forward to avoid a repeat occurrence.  

Not the case.  

Tennessee managed to avoid disaster from it, as they ultimately prevailed in Lexington 33-27.  However, the team still managed to commit 9 penalties for 70 yards, which is becoming an increasingly alarming trend for Josh Heupel's team, especially on the road.  

And the one against Herring was totally avoidable.