Change one play

Submitted by South Bend Wolverine on

A friend linked this brief article on Facebook, and I thought it might be a fun offseason hypothetical to kick around for a bit.  The gist of the article is, if you could change one single play in the history of sports, what would it be?

For me, there are two close contenders.  First, have us make that late field goal against OSU in the year of the tie & subsequent illegal "vote". Bo then gets the best shot he'd ever have at a national crown. Second, I'd say change the ruling on the goal review from the UMD National Championship loss in hockey back in 2011. Shawn Hunwick gets his crown, and the greatest underdog story in sports history has its perfection completion.

What do you guys think?

http://deadspin.com/if-you-could-change-the-outcome-of-one-play-which-w…

Gulogulo37

April 2nd, 2015 at 8:18 PM ^

I don't think so. The game looked like it had passed Carr that season. It wasn't all just psychological. Winning a nail biter against App St. Still would have been extremely worrying. I still think we would have been crushed by Oregon the next week and would have had a poor season. A lot of other plays I'd rather change than going from a shitty football season to just a good one (if it turned out like 2003 i mean).

lilpenny1316

April 2nd, 2015 at 5:49 PM ^

Chuck was the inside DB on that play.  He knocks it down, game over.  Instead it got knocked up and bounced over/past Ty. 

I would also like to say the play also probably doesn't happen if we had a couple guys standing on the goal line at the snap.  By time the ball got to the goal line, the players were just arriving, so no time to set up before trying to knock it down.

Blau

April 2nd, 2015 at 10:58 PM ^

Damien Anderson dropped probably the easiest TD pass moments before.

Then Thomas runs through a rather large hole only to somehow fumble.

NW recovers and some QB named Zack Kustok who was on fire all day throws the winning pass. 

theyellowdart

April 2nd, 2015 at 4:40 PM ^

+1

 

I remember being positive it was a bad call when it happened.  I complained about it for weeks at work, and I was bitter.

 

Then about 5-6 years ago I forced myself to watch the replay of that game, when that hit came my reaction was "oh snap, yeah that was totally an illegal hit" :)

JamieH

April 2nd, 2015 at 5:04 PM ^

you are now looking at the play through a much different set of rules.  Yeah in 2015 that is a clearly illegal hit.  But those hits are called radically differently now in 2015 than they were in 2006.  There has been a massive MASSIVE emphasis on making any helmet contact illegal.

 

Back in 2006 that was a very borderline call.  Just that same season. make even the same week in the USC/UCLA game the UCLA QB had gotten clocked/speared in the helmet in almost the exact same play and not only had it not drawn a flag, but the hit was used in the ABC promo for college football for a while was being a "great play/big hit".  Helmet hits were not yet being scrutanized in 2006 the way they are now.  

 

So yeah, in 2015, it is an auto flag.  It certainly was NOT in 2006.  If that play hadn't been in Columbus on the Ohio State sideline, I doubt it draws a flag.  At the time, it was a total homer call. 

lilpenny1316

April 2nd, 2015 at 6:04 PM ^

Troy had thrown the ball already as he was going out of bounds.  There was nothing borderline about it.  In the UCLA-USC game, the QB was scrambling and still technically in bounds when he got popped.  That was the borderline hit.  If I was still a ref, I'd flag both hits.

EGD

April 2nd, 2015 at 7:49 PM ^

That call happened on 3rd & long.  If the call doesn't happen, OSU has 4th down and punts.  Instead, they got 15 yards and a first down, and went on to score a TD to go up by 11.

Michigan marched down the field and scored a TD on the ensuing possession.  Granted, we were down by 11 at that point and maybe were more aggressive than we might have been down 4, but still.  I will always believe that call cost us the game.

ijohnb

April 2nd, 2015 at 4:04 PM ^

2.  Webber's timeout

3.  Burke's foul/completely not a foul against Louisville

4.  Sheed never would have left Horry

 

 

ijohnb

April 2nd, 2015 at 4:05 PM ^

absolutely would have.  Timmy was heating up, Louisville was starting to tire.  I really believe we would won that game comfortably (4-6 points) if that doesn't get called.

drjaws

April 2nd, 2015 at 4:04 PM ^

It was one of the greatest blocks in college basketball history.  Totally clean too.  There needs to be a gif for that block, followed first by amazement, then utter shock that the ref some how decided it was a foul.  That and the dude that punch McGary in the nuts should have been banned from college forever.