Which was the worst blown call of the week?
It seems like all season this year the refs have been even worse than normal, such as in the ASU vs Wisconsin game earlier this year. This past week in college football saw three game changing calls go to official review, and on all three, there was not evidence to overturn the call on the field. Which call was the worst by the refs?
Was it the fumble by Texas vs Iowa State that would've clinched the game for the Cyclones?
Was it the questionable spot by the refs in the 4th and 1 for Northwestern that would have kept their drive alive vs OSU?
(Sorry, Youtube is a blocked site at my office so I am unable to embed anything other than pics or gifs here, so here's a sad Kain Colter instead)
Or was it the trap/catch in the Washington vs Stanford game that potentially gave Stanford the win when this was ruled no catch? (again couldn't find this in gif form, only picture).
For my vote, I'm going with the Iowa State vs Texas one as the worst blown call of the week, and I think Iowa State's coach agrees with me given his explosion at the refs Thursday night in his press conference. But I think the Northwestern vs OSU one was also pretty awful, and had to be heartbreaking for those in attendance. I know that I was screaming at the TV on that one.
What do you guys think?
Also, if anyone can embed the videos for #2 and #3 here, I'd appreciate it! I would if youtube weren't blocked at my office.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:38 AM ^
The spot in the NW game was a tough judgement call. I think the real crime was that they didn't review it. NW had to challenge for them to review it, and lost a TO as a result. That cost them 40 or so crucial seconds and meant they had no real chance to march when they got the ball back at the end. How do you not automatically review the biggest play of the game? The refs reviewed a clearly incomplete pass to Philly Brown earlier in the game; they review small plays all the time, yet not THE play of the game? Sickening.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
need to be held accountable for losing timeouts due to pointless challenges. They should definitely invest in a press-box coach who can tell them whether or not to challenge. There was a 0% chance that they were going to win that challenge, and the time out was way more valuable than the pointless challenge.
Between that and the unrelated topic of Michigan's refusal to adopt spread punting, I really question the critical thinking level for these pretty simple concepts.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
There wasn't a 0% chance they were going to win that challenge. From one angle, the guy's feet were the only thing still behind the line, and that should have been conclusive evidence. If he reviews that and they get it, NW would have very likely won.
Still, he shouldn't have had to call the timeout, they should have reviewed it by themselves.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:52 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^
The first down marker is at the 33 yard line. Watching the replay the yellow line changes location when the camera angle shifts from the sideline camera to the end-zone camera. The yellow line appears to be between the 34 and 35 yard line when seen from the end-zone camera. Because he is carrying the ball with his back towards the line to gain and the ball on his belly, he would need to get his torso completely past the 33 yard line for the ball to be across. The angle we all want to see but never got was the same angle that the linesman who spotted the ball had.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^
If you watch the footage closely, you will see the lines judges approaching the ball from two different yard marks at the end of that play -- and separated by what appears to be about two yards. The line judge on the bottom of the screen had NWU with the first down, whereas the judge at the top had them behind the marker.
As they approach the ball the line judge along the bottom sees he has the ball marked different than his colleague and steps back, stealing the first down from NWU.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:04 AM ^
I was rooting so hard for the line judge at the bottom to get priority, but, we all know what happened.
Human error and all, but man, how fracking arbitrary is this critical aspect of the sport?!
October 7th, 2013 at 11:40 AM ^
I saw that too, and the right call was made.
The play went to the right hash and the playside ref spotted the ball as they're suppose to do. They did not steal a first down for NW.
Not to mention, the right call was made in the NW game. There was one angle where the yellow lines were tricky (You can actually see the yellow/blue lines moving during the play, they weren't reliable from that angle) that made it seem like he may have gotten a first down, other than that there really was nothing that made it seem taht way.
October 7th, 2013 at 3:04 PM ^
the Evil Emperor who blew up over a similar situation in the same game when Ohio was charged a timeout when a spot near the goal line wound up being reviewed and overturned by replay showing Hyde had broken the plane of the goal line before being downed inside the one.
It was great to see Urban not get his way as he argued unsuccessfully that his timeout should have been returned once the replay booth changed the call and that a dead ball situation was now in effect thus wiping out the need for a timeout. However, he didn't challenge the call, he simply called timeout. If he had used a coaching challenge then he could have reclaimed the timeout.
Before we go crazy on the officials, we should also recognize that spots are difficult to judge in the tangle of bodies and NU did itself no favors by fumbling the snap and nearly ending the play before it began when Colter nearly put his knee down before scooping up the fumbled snap and lurching forward. I thought it was a poor choice to go under center in that situation instead of taking a direct snap and getting some momentum and maybe diving ahead for the line to gain.
The call in Texas was based entirely on the fact that Texas was playing Iowa State and no official saw the ball being snatched away from the runner before he was down, and thus giving replay the option of letting the play stand as called instead of reversing it based on the elements of the play.
In one case, you have a simple rule overstepping judgment while in the other you have judgment not wanting to be the final decision on a play no on the crew witnessed and either blew dead nor confirmed.
So, here is what is going to happen going forward in these situations in my opinion: the coaches will advocate for return of a team timeout even in a non-challenge situation when the booth overturns a call on the field. And to a certain extent that makes sense, because the officials have a bunch of eyes looking at the play plus a backup.
The review booth shouldn't be able to hide behind no-calls on the field. Sometimes the designated official can't see what happened, and makes no call even if the video evidence isn't totally convincing. You must show courage. I think not altering calls based on convincing visual evidence to the contrary is a good standard, but there are times when that standard is abused. I think the play in Texas was one of those instances.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:40 AM ^
Easily the Texas / Iowa State game. The refereeing for that entire game was pretty bad.
As far as the Northwestern / OSU game, I know the popular viewpoint on the board has been to say that the Buckeyes got a favorable spot, but I don't know how anyone can complain too much about that play. Colter fumbles the snap and as a result doesn't get much push forward and is in a pile of bodies where the position of the ball can't easily be determined. They left themselves at the mercy of the refs with that one. In that situation, you have to execute if you want a chance to win. SNAP THE BALL CLEANLY.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:51 AM ^
That was why I used the sad Kain Colter picture above, you just know that fumbled snap is going to be living in his nightmares for a very long time. I'm curious to see how NW comes out against Wisconsin this week, whether or not they can bounce back from this. A 2-loss Northwestern will help us with the division race quite a bit.
October 7th, 2013 at 1:58 PM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
If you pause the tape right before he fumbles, imagine from there he falls forward to the endzone. That would be a touchdown no questions asked, even though his forward progress was temporarily halted so then why is it not a fumble? The play would clearly be kept alive in some cases
October 7th, 2013 at 10:47 AM ^
That's right. And the replay clearly showed that the whistle hadn't yet blown, so why was he down? It almost seemed like the refs were afraid lest Texas should lose and their wrath would be more potent than that of Iowa State.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:35 AM ^
This is also the call most easily made, ISU doesn't have its own TV network and doesn't own the league, Texas does. That call will default to Texas every time, if it hadn't, I think a few refs would have lost a job.
October 7th, 2013 at 5:46 PM ^
I hate to admit it, but I almost put on my tinfoil hat after seeing the Texas/ISU call as well.
Is it still the case that the replay official can only look at replays of what was broadcasted on TV? Hypothetically speaking, are there any safeguards to prevent a biased TV producer from simply refusing to broadcast an angle that would be favorable to one team or another? In the Texas/ISU game, I was waiting for a replay from the other sideline opposite from the one they kept replaying, but they never showed it.
As a former engineer, IMO they should just put a tracking chip in the ball with some kind of traingulating equipment around the stadium and have some kind of master timekeeping device so that you can sync up the position of the ball and multiple video feeds at any given point in time. I'm surprised they don't at least syncronize the video feeds (so that you can compare one video feed where the player's knee is clearly touching the ground to another video feed where you can't see the player's knee, for example).
October 7th, 2013 at 10:43 AM ^
I was watching the game at the bar when I saw the fumbled snap from afar but it looked like he scooped the ball with his knee down. Was that not the case?
October 7th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
No, by the time he got possession his knee was clearly off the ground. It was a very difficult angle judge his progress, but it sure looked like he at least got to the yellow line.
ohio is pretty good.... and pretty lucky.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
I think the knee was back up by the time he regained possession, though I agree with others that NU can't complain too much about the spot. It's a judgment call, and live it appeared to me that he didn't make it.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^
Coulter definitely puts his knee on the ground as he's reaching for the ball. Can't tell if he raised his knee off the ground before he took possession, though.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:57 AM ^
That's what I thought when I watched it live. Granted, I was less than sober and watching it from a distance... but I kept thinking his knee was down.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
same play as the Henne fumble in the 2005 Penn State game
October 7th, 2013 at 10:59 AM ^
it reminds me of Penn St. 1994. PSU stood up Wheatley and stripped the ball - fumble awarded to PSU. Later in the game, M stood up Carter and stripped the ball but didn't get the same ruling.
Can anyone find streams of this to make sure my M bias isn't clouding my memory?
October 7th, 2013 at 10:48 AM ^
I didn't watch the Texas/ISU game but from the gif I don't see anything wrong with that play? The RB was still churning his legs and it looks like only 1 second or so that his forward progress is stopped. I've seen RBs power through stalemates like that before and move that pile into the endzone so I don't think you can allow the refs to blow it dead right away. Now, if the whistles did blow before the ball was stripped then it shouldn't have been a turn over, but saying it should have been blown dead then is the wrong call.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^
The play WAS "blown dead" and replay held that it wasn't a fumble. That's the bad call.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:49 AM ^
but that Tennessee fumble call between TD/touchback seemed pretty close from the small TV I saw it on. I don't know if that play is officially contentious or not, just seemed close and had a huge impact on the result of the game.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 10:55 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 11:59 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 1:19 PM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 10:52 AM ^
He lost possession at around the 1 yard line. IMO, that was the craziest play of the week, but not a blown call.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
I was very glad not to be a Tennesse fan at that moment. That must have been terrible.
October 7th, 2013 at 12:43 PM ^
Hmm... I don't know that he lost possession at the 1 yard line. He clearly let go with his right hand to stretch out his left. It may be that he never really possessed the ball from that point forward, but I can't tell from the video. Right around the time the nose is crossing the plane it seems evident that he no longer has possession. Without a higher angle, it's hard to say exactly when possession was lost. It somehow seemed more obvious that it wasn't a touchdown from the tv replays they showed during the game.
Anway, to agree with Erik, all of these calls and close plays make me more grateful that I only have to deal with rooting for a team that's been underperforming--and not one that's losing in gut-wrenching fashion. Losing to ND like ISU lost to Texas would have been, well, you can fill in the blank.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
Totally agree with saveferris--it's a fumbled snap with 22 bodies mashed into a pile. Refs gave it their best guess, which is all you can ask of them. Buckeyes win. Bummer.
On the positive side, I can't wait until Braxton Miller has to return his July Heisman. Gonna be totally awkard.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:50 AM ^
...but Colter's knee was clearly off the ground when he regained control and the OL had moved the pile far enough that it looked like an easy re-spot on the replay. At least to me.
In Stanford-UDub, I think they got it right with the no catch, but definitely a tough way to end the game.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:52 AM ^
Far and away, the Iowa State / Texas call. There is no way that is NOT a fumble, at least from what I have seen from different angles. Kudos to the Cyclones for running it back just in case too. Actually, there might be several candidates for this list just from that game.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^
I was looking at a Northwestern fan blog during the game, and they were (on the whole) less devastated by the call during the heat of the moment than we are the day after.
Oh how I wish I could be more dispassionate about Michigan football.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:53 AM ^
The ISU/Texas call was the worst.
Colter clearly didn't get the first down against Ohio State. However, it was close enough to be reviewed. Northwestern shouldn't have had to waste a timeout for the refs to take a second look.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:51 AM ^
"Colter clearly didn't get the first down" or that "Colter didn't clearly get the first down?" Because they mean very different things, and I'm not sure I'd agree with both.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
The best part about the Texas-ISU call gif is the white player on ISU whose head snaps up right after the ball is stripped. I laughed.
October 7th, 2013 at 10:58 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 11:09 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
I said it in the Thursday night game thread also. There is not enough evidence to overturn that call on the field. Pollack agreed with me during the broadcast IIRC.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:12 AM ^
I don't know how anyone can know that. The official on the sideline had the best view.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:00 AM ^
ISU/UT was the worst by far, not just of the day but maybe one of the worst of the season.
As far as the spot in the NW game, watch the replay and one linesman (with back to camera) clearly runs up to mark the ball right on the yellow stripe then moves his spot back about a foot once the players, including Colter, have already moved.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:19 AM ^
The reason the official adjusted his position is because he had no sight on the ball and only made an educated guess as to the spot of the ball. In that case the proper mechanic for an official is to mirror the other official on the opposite sideline who has a better angle on the play and who is more likely to have seen the ball.
Often, in plays like this that result in massive pileups, it is nearly impossible to see the ball. The only thing to do as an official in this case is to pinch in towards the pile and hope that you see leather and can spot off the ball once you see it. In some instances you may never see the ball and you are forced to have to make a best guess as to the spot of the ball. Its not a perfect scenario but its the best that you can do in situations where the ball is lost in a pile. Its similar to a fumble and a subsequent pile up. For all the officials know, that ball could have changed hands 5 times before they can get to the bottom of the pile to declare who has possession. The best an official can do is to work quickly to dig into the pile and find the ball. Whoever has possession of it at that point is whoever gets to keep possession. Its not ideal but its how the game is called and has always been called.
You may think it would be easy to see the ball and spot it on every play but it really is not and at times mistakes are made. This is not an easy call to make. The officials did what they had to do. The official with the best view of the play made a determination of the spot of the ball based on what he saw during the play and thats all that he can do.
October 7th, 2013 at 11:07 AM ^
October 7th, 2013 at 11:24 AM ^
I didn't see anything come of that, and I was shocked and disgusted by the act and by the relatively low level of commentary it evoked from the broadcasters. If players are being ejected for helmet to helmet hits (reviewable), why not get that kind of unsportsmanlike behavior out of the game as well?
October 7th, 2013 at 11:54 AM ^
In fact, Mack Brown and Mike Davis both said Davis was just "playing to the whistle" as if cut-blocking a stationary CB at the knees on the right side of the play when it's a run to the left is a relevant part of that play. He should be suspended a game at least, but nothings going to happen