Roman calls B___sh!t
See article here. (I don’t blame him.)
https://nypost.com/2022/12/31/two-critical-calls-go-against-michigan-in-cfp-loss-to-tcu/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app
January 1st, 2023 at 1:58 AM ^
That review was so inexplicable it’s hard not to suspect corruption.
January 1st, 2023 at 9:10 AM ^
I still think the ball broke the plane of the end zone on the initial touch. The bobble just sealed it as obvious as far as I am concerned.
I am tired of replay officials marking the ball back at the knee and not where the ball was when the knee was down.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:17 AM ^
Knee wasn’t even down by the time he touched the ball. Relevant body part was his ass, which was two thirds over the goal line as his hands touched leather. Given that he caught the ball on his body, there is zero chance some part of the ball was not through the plane when he gained possession. “Indisputable video evidence” my ass.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:31 PM ^
that didn’t cost us the game though. The boneheaded play calling inside the 10 did.
1st and goal at the 1 inch line …. How do you not run a QB sneak???? How???
We should have been up 14-0, 10-0 at a minimum, early in the 1st. Game plays out totally differently but alas, we shit the bed on both sides of the ball all night long
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:18 AM ^
Well yes, in a game with 96 points decided by only 6, there are lots of individual things that could have flipped the outcome.
The difference is all the rest were decided by the players on the field, this one, which produced the final margin, was 100% on the refs.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:07 AM ^
I really wish officials, replay officials in particular, had to talk to media. Like word for word hear this guy try and explain his rationale. And then the follow up question to him would be asking if be understands when a catch is actually completed because at no point in any football league or level has a ball bouncing and still moving been considered completed yet.
Essentially this replay official would be making the argument that if Wilson had lost the ball after the initial part it still would have been considered a completed catch and we all know that is asinine and 100% not true. It is hard not to feel pissed when you two games in two years where a replay official seemingly is on a different planet than everyone else and takes away a td. Honestly I think this one was even worse than the MSU one.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:55 AM ^
The replay officials should have a hot mic and camera on them all game. Rather than having an anonymous cowardly referee in the booth, they should have their face shown in public with a name attached, like all other officials. I understand the arguments for keeping them anonymous because it’s a crazy world, but too much is at stake to have some cowardly anonymous dude steal touchdowns from kids in the biggest game of their life. If a replay official can’t stand that level of heat, then they can get out of the kitchen.
The whole replay process is extremely flawed. To overturn a call on the field, they need indisputable evidence… not probably or possibly, but very clear evidence. They overturned a touchdowns without ANY evidence today. There should be a hot mic and multiple review officials, including an official advocate for each teams point of view. If there is no legitimate dispute from the respective advocate, the call can be overturned.
January 1st, 2023 at 8:43 AM ^
Replay is so messed up in college football now. It's so far away from "clear and obvious errors" overturned by "indisputable visual evidence." They've just introduced a whole new way for officiating errors to happen and for officials to control and influence the game. Put it on the list of things the NCAA should fix, but probably won't.
January 1st, 2023 at 9:42 AM ^
Replay system that was put into place to correct obvious errors is now introducing obvious errors.
It's like rain on your wedding day.
January 1st, 2023 at 8:24 AM ^
when a catch is actually completed because at no point in any football league or level has a ball bouncing and still moving been considered completed yet.
Yeah seems like a double standard vs situations where the receiver is falling out of bounds. E.g. if it were the back of the endzone instead of the front, my guess is they would have said he didn't have possession until he crossed the back line, no catch
Maddening that such incompetent people were given that much power
January 1st, 2023 at 8:55 AM ^
If that play had been on the sideline you can be damn sure the call would have been that he hasn't completed the catch before crossing the line. For the revuew to overturn that is behind belief.
January 1st, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
There are so many things wrong with college football officiating, and these and other proposed solutions seem super obvious. It’ll likely never happen though, because there’s not enough incentive for the sport to change. Substantially improving officiating would cost a lot, but what would the return on investment be? As frustrating as it is for us to watch it continue, we’re still watching, we won’t stop watching, and the powers that be know that. Also, is there a significant untapped market who is waiting for the officiating to improve before they tune in regularly? Certainly not.
I really think the only way out of this is for definitive proof of a point shaving scandal involving college football referees in a high profile game to surface. Such a scandal would force reform. These referees are paid absurdly little relative to the power they have over the outcome of games where millions of dollars are at stake; there’s definitely been some refs on the take somewhere along the way. But without the proof of that, this is what we’re left with indefinitely.
January 1st, 2023 at 11:45 AM ^
At minimum, do not have a ref who graduated from a hated rival be part of a crew, especially in a championship game.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:13 AM ^
i prefer keegans response in that article. and mullings. own it and move on. get better, play cleaner next time
January 1st, 2023 at 2:18 AM ^
That is all well and good but when people fuck up badly accountability is needed. UM made mistakes and I am sure they will own them, but the replay official also made a colossal one that defies logic and reason. It is quite frankly an ongoing problem that the NCAA has where the replay officials seemingly don't understand what their actual function is and what indisputable means. Unfortunately it is the second time in 2 years that UM had a td taken off the board in what ended up being a one score game.
January 1st, 2023 at 10:48 AM ^
Fog of war stuff is okay for players and even coaches when you are reflecting on the game. But this was a deliberative action. They had time to look at that play in slo-mo over and over again. And they had the burden of "clear and incontrovertible evidence" to overturn the call made on the field.
Non only did they abandon their mission, they did it quickly. Normally those situations drag on way longer than anyone finds reasonable. Most of the time the correct call is obvious to everyone after a few looks and they still give it time. This one was quick. I am very slow to the trigger on some sort of gambling conspiracy, but this one makes me look twice. Almost nobody who looks at that objectively can say that it was correct to overturn that call, and given the stage and the stakes, whoever was in charge of that decision needs to answer.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:49 AM ^
Everyone processes frustration differently. Some people let it out all at once, others bottle it up. I doubt there was a single human being on the Michigan sideline that felt magnanimous towards the refs for putting their thumb on the scale. Yes Michigan could have played a cleaner game. TCU could have also played a cleaner game. If the roles were reversed it would be TCU players calling BS.
I don't get frustrated for more than a few seconds over a bad spotting of the ball. Or a catch that looked like it could have possibly been incomplete. But man that targeting call shouldn't have even been up for debate. I've seen people get convicted for murder on much more flimsy evidence. Even a half drunk pee-wee ref would have gotten that call right.
January 1st, 2023 at 3:00 AM ^
Eh, I mean I agree it was targeting but bizzare you only mention that one and omit the one that you know actually took points of the scoreboard. I mean Wilson did in fact catch a td and he knows it along with everyone else, so he has every right to be pissed. The targeting while still annoying because it is a player safety issue that should never be ignored did not directly have an impact on the scoreboard. Still would have been backs very much up against the wall to score with 25 seconds left and unlike the Wilson td being wiped occured on a play that was a complete fuckup by UM in all aspects with the botched snap timing.
January 1st, 2023 at 8:57 AM ^
Don't forget the UTL when Denard had 23 second to go 75 yards. This was not beyond the reason of possibility.
January 1st, 2023 at 4:11 AM ^
Hoping for a bailout on the last play, on a dumb targeting play by TCU thing is one thing. Play better, don’t leave it up to the refs. But sorry, when a touchdown is scored by Michigan…and it isn’t questionable…and then said touchdown is inexplicably overturned, and you go on to lose the game by 6…hard to get over that.
January 1st, 2023 at 6:29 AM ^
Own what?
The fact that we got screwed out of 7 pts?
2 announcers and the rules expert simultaneously said TD, and these assholes come back with an "undisputed" reversed call.
January 1st, 2023 at 8:01 PM ^
The butterfly effect is in play here... The overall shift in the game from that play cannot easily be calculated. Simply shifting points is the best we have to work with, and it says we should have won. The entire game plays out differently from that point on.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:22 AM ^
I think the “butterfly effect” actually helps Michigan if the call is allowed to stand. Huge momentum swing. 14-10, Michigan is right back in it instead of playing from behind big for 3 quarters.
January 2nd, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
I agree. I was more addressing that a lot of the framing of this is has been that the overturn did not have other impacts on the game following.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:21 AM ^
You can only own your own screw ups. When is the ref going to own up to his?
January 1st, 2023 at 2:16 AM ^
It was bullshit. And the targeting overturn was also bullshit. But the Mullings fumble was bullshit. The stupid trickeration at the goal line (Philly Special??) was bullshit. The two pick 6's were also bullshit. And the defense not getting critical stops in the second half was also bullshit. Play just a tick better and that was a Michigan win. Full stop.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:22 AM ^
Lol, and this is why refs are never held accountable because that is what the narrative shifts to. And yes it is true, but this is what leads to officials not being held accountable for their end. They are constantly let off the hook because the narrative becomes 100% about a team's mistakes instead of both things being true at the same time. UM could have overcome it with less mistakes, but it does not mean the replay official should not receive massive scrutiny for fucking up collassally.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:26 AM ^
Guess what? Fans ranting on a message board about bad refs doesnt get anything changed, every fanbase in every conference thinks their refs are bad. Go email Kevin Warren or something about it.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:35 AM ^
No, you or me can't do jack about it that is true, but the problem is that is what the narrative shifts to in the media and then all is essentially forgotten. No prolonged scrutiny means no real incentive for the NCAA or conferences to really do jack shit.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:52 AM ^
No, but it is cathartic.
January 1st, 2023 at 3:25 AM ^
~ colossally.
Yes, this. Exactly: there are multiple factors that went into the loss. The presence of some (mistakes on our end) do not negate the presence of others (mistakes on the refs).
And also - the one is supposed to be part of the game. The other is not. That makes it all the more egregious in my book.
Amazing how this little bit of logic gets overlooked.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:29 AM ^
“And also - the one is supposed to be part of the game. The other is not. That makes it all the more egregious in my book”
100% this, and it’s why the “Michigan should have just played better hurr durr” takes are dumb. Maybe TCU should have played better so they didn’t need a bullshit call to produce the winning margin. And if they had I’d tip my cap. Because players are supposed to decide the game.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:38 AM ^
Here's the thing: yeah, we made plenty of mistakes ourselves. As did TCU. And referees have to make lots of split-second judgment calls. It's a tough job.
But the replay official doesn't have that excuse. He gets to calmly watch the play in slow-motion, as many times as he needs, since the NCAA has no time limit for reviews. And his job is made even easier by the fact that the call on the field is favored, and that only clear, indisputable evidence can overturn it.
Quite simply, there's no excuse for this guy to make a mistake. And somehow, he did.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:31 AM ^
I don’t understand why nobody gets this because it’s been true for awhile now - the “replay official” doesn’t decide any more. They just signal which plays are worth review. The final call is the field ref with a monitor. He’s the one that overturned the TD and lacked the balls to call targeting.
January 1st, 2023 at 7:49 AM ^
Right, one team can have an inexhaustible amount of their actual accomplishments - whether it be yards, points, plays, whatever - taken away from them while their opponent does not and still win!
That’s a terrible argument and terrible expectation. I mean, think about it. How is the team supposed to win when the things they actually do to result in a win inexplicably don’t count? Makes no sense.
January 1st, 2023 at 9:05 AM ^
"Play just a tick better and that was a Michigan win. Full stop."
I used to think this was how "elevated" fans reacted to bad reffing.
Over the years I've come to realize this is bullsihit
Your response now gives me mroe of a "i'm in an abusive relationship and need to justify it" kinda vibe.
January 1st, 2023 at 9:14 AM ^
I honestly don't know why you're being upvoted so much for this terrible take. Sure, play better... But at what point does crap officiating begin to sway the outcome? Michigan made a mistake by fumbling away the ball on the goal line. But why are we running a play there? Because the officials jacked up a review call and not a single person on the planet can explain why. That play should have never been run - and the game is different. Do we win? Don't know... But it's very different early on.
There comes a point when an officials mistake begin to offset a teams mistakes and start to change the outcome of the game. They need to be held as accountable for that as the players are. You cannot constantly let them off the hook by saying 'play better' - there is a point where it doesn't matter how well you play. Michigan hit that point, again, last night.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:16 AM ^
Now that I've had time to process everything and calm down. We all know both reviews were horrible calls made by someone who clearly doesn't know the rules or decided they would make up their own rules.
But when you go back and you take out time and circumstances and you told me we had 4 shots to score from the one foot line to win the game, Id take that. Fact is there were 4 self inflicted turnovers that could have swung the score by 27 points in Michigan's favor. (I'm counting the turnover on downs inside the 5).
January 1st, 2023 at 2:17 AM ^
It made no sense. You can't determine that he completed the catch until after his roll is over - and by then he's well into the endzone.
Not to mention the utter incompetence of the crew to spot the ball for that play on the Michigan 49, when we had intercepted it on the TCU 49.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:26 AM ^
Well the replay official also could have corrected that spot. But yeah the spot being two yards off is something that no one is really talking about but definitely a huge gaffe by the on field crew and then again on the replay guy who is supposed to be reviewing every play and could have corrected the spot. I mean also potentially makes there be no review period if Wilson is three yards in the endzone so had a pretty big impact as well.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:24 AM ^
Whining about it wont change anything. I prefer what the other guys said:
“S–t happens in football,” Michigan offensive lineman Trevor Keegan said. “It’s on us.”
Mullings, whose fumble followed Wilson’s overturned score, echoed that. “It seemed like Roman was in,” he said. “[But] at the end of the day, if they put it at the half-yard line, I’m supposed to score. That’s my responsibility.”
"We'll be back."
--JJ McCarthy
January 1st, 2023 at 2:30 AM ^
You know what also doesn't change anything? Officials really not being held accountable, which the mindset of don't call shit out because it could be perceived as whining or whatever doesn't really help. The NCAA in particular really should have a discussion about their replay officials because there are far too many examples of these guys not understanding what indisputable means. On field officials I can cut some slack in real time but this shit from replay officials is inexcusable. I mean inexcusable is a bold word to use in most cases but I don't know what else you can call it.
January 2nd, 2023 at 12:40 AM ^
Yep. Mullings is gonna hold himself accountable. JJ is going to hold himself accountable. The team and coaches will hold them accountable. Who is going to hold head referee Jason Autrey accountable?
January 1st, 2023 at 2:47 AM ^
The lack of accountability is this biggest issue. They make mistakes and run off the field. No questions asked. You have 18 and 19 year olds who have to answer questions when wounds are still open. Every play they make or call is scrutinized and analyzed. However, players and coaches are punished if they acknowledge the referee’s mistakes. It’s hands off with them and they’re full on adults who get paid to do the job.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:53 AM ^
Yep, players and coaches are scrutinized and have to answer hard questions publicly about their mistakes, etc but someone like this replay official won't have to answer what exactly he was looking at in in any public capacity. Now maybe there are discussions behind closed doors, but whatever they are clearly are not nearly enough because replay officials continuing to not understand what it takes to overturn a call is something we have seen happen far too much in general in college football.
January 1st, 2023 at 7:15 AM ^
I'm usually in the "don't blame the refs; play better" camp, but this makes a ton of sense. Very good question: why do kids have to sit in front of cameras and explain their decisions/mistakes immediately after a gut-wrenching loss, and adults are granted anonymity and immunity for blunders that can/did have enormous impact on the game?
Great point, Blueprint.
January 1st, 2023 at 2:55 AM ^
Execute a simple handoff, and it's a non-factor. Or sneak the damn ball. I'm more upset about that than I am with the overturned TD.
January 1st, 2023 at 3:08 AM ^
It is possible to be equally upset at both. UM executed for a TD on the play, they should have been rewarded with a TD. They had to run another play and unfortunately fucked up that play in the worse way possible. I also agree a qb sneak should be the default half a yard play for any team with the push now allowed. That is mistake they own up to right in the article. But it is also fair to point out they only had to run another play at all because of inexcusable replay official incompetence. And that also isn't right.
January 1st, 2023 at 4:05 AM ^
If the adversity we're faced with is first and goal, six inches away, that's just something I'd hoped this team would be able to overcome. And 2 yards of field position is something I thought we should have been able to overcome. I don't know, maybe I'm naive, it's a game of inches, and so forth ...
January 1st, 2023 at 5:37 AM ^
At that moment I was screaming, "Why are you handing the ball off at all?" You're first-and-goal from less than a foot. Go under center, have McCarthy take the snap and sneak it, and have Mullings and someone else push from behind. You're got four downs to try, and if you can't get one foot in four attempts running behind this oh-so-wonderful O-line ... well shit, then you don't deserve to win anyway.
Instead they try a quick hand-off to a guy who hasn't carried the ball much this season, and the worst possible thing happens.
Absolutely, the replay call taking the TD off the board was incompetence. But the following play call wasn't far from that.