Officials Spotting of the Ball
So I am just curious if just because UM won anyways the refs from last night are pretty much going to get off scot free from what was pretty obvious spotting favoring Alabama all game? It was quite honestly the most obvious case of that occuring for an entire game that I have seen watching a college football game.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:26 PM ^
Yes. It was terrible the entire game, and I couldn't believe Herbstreit and Fowler weren't saying anything.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:33 PM ^
you really couldn't believe it? it was obviously always going to be the case
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:39 PM ^
The refs are part of the everybody. I’m sticking with Michigan.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:47 PM ^
Yes, it's shocking that ESPN employees would not say anything about officiating errors at the margin that favored an ESPN business partner.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:33 PM ^
Obvious bias here, but it felt like Herbie was seething the whole game, waiting for Alabama to break out and run up the score.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:44 PM ^
It’s been a long time since he has the Michigan gratification that he seeks
January 2nd, 2024 at 3:41 PM ^
This will be unpopular, but I actually heard the opposite in his voice. He sounded excited that Michigan was handling Bama. I was shocked when I first heard it. I still think he's overly dramatic and obviously is a homer for OSU, but I don't know, last night it almost sounded like he was happy that someone in the B1G wasn't rolling over. I could have just misinterpreted his tone, but I had the opposite take on Herbie last night.
January 2nd, 2024 at 4:36 PM ^
If my team loses a tournament, I usually feel a lot better about the loss once I know the team they lost to won the whole thing. Almost as if that means that by proxy my team placed 2nd (or 3rd depending on scoring differential) due to the transitive property.
(Deep down inside the buckeyes should want us to win because it makes them look better. However, I'm not sure it's possible after that performance against Missouri.)
January 2nd, 2024 at 5:49 PM ^
Yeah, I think Herbie has always had a kind of begrudging respect for Michigan; that's one of the things that pisses off Buckeye fans. I think a part of him still identifies with the Rust Belt, the Big Ten, and the rivalry.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:26 PM ^
I didn't notice anything outrageous, do you have specific examples?
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:29 PM ^
It was literally the entire game at a good clip, .5-1 yard for Alabama, .5-1 yard back for UM. For instance on UM's last sack of Milroe he was sacked at the 33 and marked at the 32 as just one example .But like I said it was frequent so it's not just a couple of instances.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:18 PM ^
The non-call on the hit out of bounds on JJ on our last drive was absolutely criminal.
January 2nd, 2024 at 5:51 PM ^
True, that was egregious; though we scored on that drive anyway, with less time remaining on the clock, so in the long run it worked out.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:30 PM ^
The one I can think of is a play where Bama made a catch on the sideline at the 42, and got spotted at the 45.
The one defense for that call I've seen is someone saying the receiver stretched the ball forward. Not 3 yards he didn't.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:57 PM ^
Only receiver I know who could do that was good ole Taco Pants.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:06 PM ^
Was it his arms or legs that gave him 4th row reach?
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:23 PM ^
he couldn't stretch anything out on that play. That was the great sideline throw by Milroe where the receiver had to toe drag at the sideline to be in bounds. He conveniently toe dragged right along the 42 yard line hash mark. So the ball gets spotted at the 45, and later that drive Bama hits a 50 yard FG instead of having to go from 53. He probably would have made it anyway, but how can you be off by 3 damn yards?
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:33 PM ^
The only one I noticed live was after Milroe's long throw in the second quarter. Start at 4:07 of this video. He goes out at probably the 41. 42 if you're generous and the ref gives him the 45. Hard to explain what the ref was seeing other than he just totally messed it up.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:43 PM ^
Wow. That IS egregious.
I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was so focused on the feet that he actually meant to mark the play at the 40 and just got the yardage lines mixed up. I don't think any ref would dare to intentionally mis-mark a spot that badly.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:07 PM ^
Hahahahahahaha
We've seen a ref in a Bama game mark the ball, turn and look behind him, then move the ball to the line to gain.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:53 PM ^
I recall seeing 3-4 spots that I raised an eyebrow over. One was posted here when they spotted it at the 45 instead of 42. The 4th down Milroe run also looked possibly short but I didn't see them overturning it on review (which they never did). Bama also had a catch in the first half where the receiver went out of bounds and i thought they spotted it 2 yards favorably.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:27 PM ^
Yup. I was seeing these all game long.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:39 PM ^
I noticed 4 or 5 spots that were pro bama. Went back, froze it and yeah. Could be a knee or elbow was down early that I didn't see. But seemed consistent that 2nd and 2 wound up being a long 3 or a short 1
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:42 PM ^
I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and even remember the crew correcting a 1st down call back to a 3rd and 1 on a Milroe sideline run.
I will say besides the missed late hit on JJ, I thought the refs had little effect on the game. Let’s hope the CFP title game follows a similar script.
January 2nd, 2024 at 3:24 PM ^
That was on Alabama's first TD drive at 10:56 in the first qrt. Milroe ran on 2 and 4, and gained only 3 yards. The refs originally gave them a first down and we were screaming at the tv about the ref's fucking favoritism. Alabama had a guy down and it took minute before play resumed and someone must have buzzed down from above that that was too obvious and they needed to reset it back 2 yards. It wasn't even close to the proper spot the first time and was foreboding of the calls to come. The fact that they corrected it showed just how bad of the orginal call it was.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:27 PM ^
I don't remember it being egregious. It's not like Alabama is OSU.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:29 PM ^
I didn't notice is as much in the second half. It was most noticeable to me in the first quarter but I didn't see it much after that.
One thing I did notice that may have contributed to this notion is that they were uniformly spotting the ball right at the initial point of contact on all tackles even when it looked like the offensive player was still trying to "lose yards to gain yards." There were a few Milroe sacks that I thought were going to be 11 or 12 yard losses because he went backwards to try to get out of trouble but they were marked where the pressure leading to the sack first occurred. I thought it was uniform for both teams on all tackles throughout though.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:29 PM ^
I'm here for the rabble..
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:29 PM ^
I was just watching the highlights and noticing that. There were at least two plays where they spotted Bama a yard for the first down on the TD drive.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:31 PM ^
There were 3 really bad instances of holding that weren't called and tossing JJ when he was a mile out of bounds that went uncalled.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:48 PM ^
I haven't rewatched yet, but I really wasn't too worried about the JJ oob tackle. If he'd thrown him down at all, throw the flag, but him not finishing the tackle was enough for me to be fine with a no call.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:05 PM ^
Also, the Alabama DB gave Darrius Clemons a DDT after the play was over. Might not have been on TV since it was far downfield and the ball was not.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
I thought it was also, the one where Milroe ran it they marked him for first down but replay corrected it for them. He was clearly short but they gave him the first down so easy.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
The key was spotting Thaw on the one yard line and not the end zone.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:37 PM ^
You have to hold the coaches feet to the fire on that stuff, IMO. First, Semaj is going to be awesome but he wasn't ready for that spot and never should have been put back there. He was visibly terrified when they were about to punt the ball and if there was ever a muff that you could see coming it was that. Second, after putting Morgan out there all game, ever after the muff, you bring Thaw in cold (who had not been exactly a bastion of greatness back there all year anyway) for the last punt of the game? Really weird.
Frankly I don't think they should have put anybody deep for the last punt. Touchback or bust.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:59 PM ^
I agree they shouldnt have had anyone back there. Something went wrong on the sidelines — after a timeout we were rushing our 11th player out there at the snap.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:11 PM ^
Even when I know what happens, I still have trouble watching replays of that punt. I was shocked he was put out there with the season on the line.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:32 PM ^
If that is all they missed then we'll be fine!!! JJ literally got body slammed 3.5 yards out of bounds and somehow all of the refs,"somehow missed it!"
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:33 PM ^
There were definitely a few that raised my eyebrows. I was more concerned about the refs not calling anything for most of the game. I think the Bama coaches got wise to that and told the O-line to just hold on every play. I believe that their only 3 penalties were all 5-yard false starts, which are not really judgment calls. It almost worked for them.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:50 PM ^
Playoff games and Super Bowls are typically laxly reffed. Players and teams can get away with obvious calls because the officials are trying to limit their role in the outcome of any game.
Curiously, the back judge flagged Michigan for a first half Max Bredeson pancake block with the play still in progress for unnecessary roughness when the umpire had a clearer look at the play and let it go. There were other instances of unnecessary roughness in the game after that which were never called.
The only fouls that Alabama was penalized for were illegal procedure or false starts.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:35 PM ^
And if we want to take honest stock of the officiating overall the only two penalties they called on Alabama were have call procedure penalties and they didn't call them for an obvious delay of game and allowed the latest late hit you will ever see on a QB. Not to mention calling UM for an unnecessary roughness for blocking while the play was still live. There was something up with the officiating, it was crooked and quite frankly done in a conceiled enough way that the general viewer probably wouldn't notice.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:42 PM ^
The roughing call was valid. You can't drive on a player who's already down and not a part of the play at that point.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:45 PM ^
Bullshit, the ball was literally coming towards the guy and the play was still live. And it certainly is far less than body slamming Qb five yards out of bounds.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:58 PM ^
That penalty was one of those live-action vs replay illusions. In real-time, he was clearly finishing his block on a guy in the runner's path. In slo-mo replay, it looks like a savage attack on a defenseless player nowhere near the play. Sure, it would have been better to block one of the free hitters instead, but that's not a personal foul. It's bizarre that the refs didn't pick up that flag.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:16 PM ^
Roughing for blocking during live action? His back was to a live play. Dude wtf is wrong with your eyes?
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:35 PM ^
They also let a blatant hands to the face go on their TD to make it 17-13.
January 2nd, 2024 at 3:45 PM ^
"Hands to the face" is a staple of Saban & Belichik coached teams. The fact it never gets called is why it's a staple. I was seeing it on almost every down from at least one of their DL. Never got called.
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:36 PM ^
Aside from a couple of missed holding calls, which is the case for every game. I felt officiating was good, and not a factor in the game.
the non, running into the kicker call was a mistake and lead to our first structured drive.
for me, let ‘em play. What a win!
January 2nd, 2024 at 1:38 PM ^
So you thought body slamming a Qb five yards out of bounds was cool? And not calling the running into the kicker was the right call because he deliberately extended his leg for longer than normal trying to act and draw it.
January 2nd, 2024 at 2:05 PM ^
There is no "let 'em play". That's just code for "let 'em cheat".
Discussion of fixes and corruption aside, that does two things:
- Rewards the dirtiest programs at the expense of well-coached ones, and
- Makes the sport atrocious to watch because why play with technique when you can cheat?
You guys do realize why, say, holding is illegal, right? There's nothing inherently dangerous about bear-hugging someone. In fact it's miles safer than hitting them at full force. It's illegal because bear-hugging requires no technique. You just open your arms, close, and squeeze. Hit the gym enough and anyone can do it. Blocking someone legally requires thousands of hours of footwork and hand placement to master.
Not calling penalties -- a.k.a. "swallowing the whistle", a.k.a. "let them play" -- turns the game into dogshit.