rules

I think that it's an explicit rule specifically for that situation.  "If the ref incorrectly calls a backwards pass incomplete and blows the whistle, the down is replayed."  I have never heard of it though.

rulebook reads:

"If the pass is ruled forward and is incomplete, the
play is not reviewable"

Rule # 7259201 of the Big Ten Officiating Guide

"If the quarterback incorrectly rules a backward lateral as an incomplete pass and blows the play dead before an inept safety can bring down the ballcarrier by his hair, the official ruling on the field should be:

1.  Run right off the field,  locate his cell phone in his locker and make three phone calls:  one to refinance his mortgage, one to Jim Delaney telling him how much he admires his administrative style, and one to tell his children he loves them no matter what.

 

2.   Pray that the sky over Michigan Stadium doesn't open up and the spirits of Bo, Yost and the Wistert brothers don't hurl bolts of maize lightning into his general vicinity.

 

or 3.  Huddle up with the remaining officiating staff, gently stroke your bag of  thirty silver coins while thanking various car dealerships and booster clubs in Columbus, and eventually come up with the ridiculous solution of "Aw, heck, why don't we just do the third down over again?"

When the ref made that call almost no one booed because no one knew what the hell was going on.  Then you could damn near hear what RR was saying to the side judge because he chewed him a new ass hole.  That was the type of call where the ref shouldn't have blown the whistle, shouldn't have allowed the review and then to right all of those wrongs, he just said "fuck it, do-over".  It was botched all the way around.

The only thing that makes sense is that, perhaps, the defensive team was disadvantaged by the incorrect whistle and the would not have been able to recover the fumble. Does anyone know what happens to the refs if a play is butchered? Do they have to hit a certain profiency during the year to stay on a crew?