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Outback Bowl - possibly the worst call in the history of college football.

sackman

Hates the Counting Crows.
Club Member
Michigan goes for it on 4th down, they bring the chains, they're two inches short. So what does the ref do? Signal first down. :bang:

Dude should never officiate another game. That's the easiest call in the world. It didn't cost anybody the game, but I've never seen a worse call.
 
Umm, did you see in the Sun Bowl yesterday when the ref signaled that the FG was good by SC when it wasn't? At least they reviewed & revesrsed it.
 
Umm, did you see in the Sun Bowl yesterday when the ref signaled that the FG was good by SC when it wasn't? At least they reviewed & revesrsed it.

Didn't see that. Still, the chains are there for a reason. By the time you wear the white hat, you should damn well know what is a first down and what isn't.
 
I about spit my beer when Spurrier got right up in it pointing at the ball and the ref gives him an extra **** you first down signal. Unbelievable!!!
 
Umm, did you see in the Sun Bowl yesterday when the ref signaled that the FG was good by SC when it wasn't? At least they reviewed & revesrsed it.

Yeah that was brutal.


Didn't look like a 1st down to me either. Refs are clueless
 
[video=youtube;87DJDzCy4jg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87DJDzCy4jg[/video]
 
They even reviewed it and still didn't get it right. WTF?

However that led to probably the best hit in NCAA football on the very next play. Karma is a b*tch
[video=youtube;W26Dcns1Mxg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W26Dcns1Mxg[/video]
 
They even reviewed it and still didn't get it right. WTF?

However that led to probably the best hit in NCAA football on the very next play. Karma is a b*tch
[video=youtube;W26Dcns1Mxg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W26Dcns1Mxg[/video]

This. If every blown call was a set up for a hit that big, I'd be fine with it.
 
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I still give the title of worse call ever to the refs in the tOSU v. Miami national championship game.
 
I still give the title of worse call ever to the refs in the tOSU v. Miami national championship game.


Are you talking about the pass interference penalty?

At least that was a subjective call and happened during the course of play.

This wasn't subjective at all. There was no interpretation to be made. The ball was dead. The ball was short of the line to gain. I would really like to know what was going through that official's head when he made the first down signal.
 
Some refs will even put a little card between the ball and the marker just to be sure. This was either stupidity or he had money on the game.
 
Are you talking about the pass interference penalty?

At least that was a subjective call and happened during the course of play.

This wasn't subjective at all. There was no interpretation to be made. The ball was dead. The ball was short of the line to gain. I would really like to know what was going through that official's head when he made the first down signal.

Parallax?
 
Even the fifth down thing was just a ****up. This was blatantly obvious and the marker was literally (yes, liver) right under the ref's nose. Someone should interview that guy.
 
After giving it some thought, I have come up with a potential, albeit extremely unlikely explanation. Assuming the ref spotted the ball for the previous set of downs, he may have had a good idea of where UM needed to go in order to get the first down without the benefit of the chains. The chains are, I'm sorry to say, a very inexact science. Everything is based on where the side judge places his back foot at the beginning of the series. If he is a couple inches off, then he's a couple inches off. The stick might have been placed a couple inches off, which could have exaggerated the problem further. Finally, the placement of the clip could have been a chain link or two off. Any one of these things, alone, wouldn't be that much of a problem and would never be noticed. In concert, they could be enough for the ref to notice a difference and overrule the official measurement. As I stated, it's extremely unlikely, but it's the only explanation I can come up with at the moment.
 
After giving it some thought, I have come up with a potential, albeit extremely unlikely explanation. Assuming the ref spotted the ball for the previous set of downs, he may have had a good idea of where UM needed to go in order to get the first down without the benefit of the chains. The chains are, I'm sorry to say, a very inexact science. Everything is based on where the side judge places his back foot at the beginning of the series. If he is a couple inches off, then he's a couple inches off. The stick might have been placed a couple inches off, which could have exaggerated the problem further. Finally, the placement of the clip could have been a chain link or two off. Any one of these things, alone, wouldn't be that much of a problem and would never be noticed. In concert, they could be enough for the ref to notice a difference and overrule the official measurement. As I stated, it's extremely unlikely, but it's the only explanation I can come up with at the moment.

Is it entirely the refs decision on whether or not to use the chains? If this explanation is correct, why would he bring out the chains in the first place. He would just signal first down, right?
 
After giving it some thought, I have come up with a potential, albeit extremely unlikely explanation. Assuming the ref spotted the ball for the previous set of downs, he may have had a good idea of where UM needed to go in order to get the first down without the benefit of the chains. The chains are, I'm sorry to say, a very inexact science. Everything is based on where the side judge places his back foot at the beginning of the series. If he is a couple inches off, then he's a couple inches off. The stick might have been placed a couple inches off, which could have exaggerated the problem further. Finally, the placement of the clip could have been a chain link or two off. Any one of these things, alone, wouldn't be that much of a problem and would never be noticed. In concert, they could be enough for the ref to notice a difference and overrule the official measurement. As I stated, it's extremely unlikely, but it's the only explanation I can come up with at the moment.
Any moron can work the chains. :wink2:
 
Is it entirely the refs decision on whether or not to use the chains? If this explanation is correct, why would he bring out the chains in the first place. He would just signal first down, right?

The way I understand it, the coaches can request a measurement, but the ref does not have to grant the request. I'm guessing here, but one potential explanation is that the ref thought the measurement would verify his own judgement, and therefore called for the measurement. When the measurement didn't do as he expected, the called for the first down based on his knowledge of where the first down should have been in the first place.

Again, very unlikely, but possible.
 
The way I understand it, the coaches can request a measurement, but the ref does not have to grant the request. I'm guessing here, but one potential explanation is that the ref thought the measurement would verify his own judgement, and therefore called for the measurement. When the measurement didn't do as he expected, the called for the first down based on his knowledge of where the first down should have been in the first place.

Again, very unlikely, but possible.

You're saying that he actually has the latitude to ignore the sticks when he's called for them? That would be ridiculous.
 
I still give the title of worse call ever to the refs in the tOSU v. Miami national championship game.

I'll go to basketball where Seton Hall got an awful foul called on them that cost them a championship against Michigan in the waning seconds of the game.
 
You're saying that he actually has the latitude to ignore the sticks when he's called for them? That would be ridiculous.
Not as ridiculous as it sounds. The white hat is the boss. If he has specific knowledge that the chains were not placed properly, he can overrule.

Having said that, I don't believe that was the case here. I think the guy just flat out blew it.
 
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