NCAA Football 2015

[katmai]

Washington St loses with last second fg miss over Stanford 30-28

[Admiral Yi]

My google fu utterly failed, but if yo guys haven't seen the UMass/Ball State kick return you absolutely have to see this.

[grumbler]

You seem to be having as hard a time letting go of the UM - MSU game as the App State game a few years back.

I didn't harp on the App State game in 2007.  That was Timmay.  And the officials in the M-MSU game were objectively awful.  Not on the last play, where nothing was called, but on a whole host of other plays.

FYI, none of those are reviewable save the one about whether the player was down before lateraling the ball (which on the field was not called dead--and I've seen people arguing that the ball was coming out by the time his knee touched--so not indisputable?). Lets review the rule book before sending the replay guy to the unemployment line. 

The play was reviewed, and the egregious block in the back was called on the field (and over-ruled on review).

Also, if you want to call a penalty for every play a forensic inspection of a replay shows helmets touch during a block, or possibly someone blocked in the back, we will never again have a play without a penalty. Which, considering that Miami had 23 penalties in the game, would create games somewhat like this one.

I think that you are foolish to want "to call a penalty for every play a forensic inspection of a replay shows helmets touch during a block, or possibly someone blocked in the back," because we will never again have a play without a penalty.  Yeah, Miami is an incredibly undisciplined team, but you have to learn to let that go.  Nothing you can do about it.

[grumbler]

My google fu utterly failed, but if yo guys haven't seen the UMass/Ball State kick return you absolutely have to see this.

It's not one of ESPN's highlights for the game (here: http://espn.go.com/college-football/video?gameId=400787342

Sure you have the right game?

[grumbler]

I know Berkut disagrees, but it is such a clear conflict of interest to have officials officiating out of conference games for one of their conference members, it would be nice if the practice was ended.

I agree with this.  Some conferences use third-conference refs for OOC games, and I think that's a good practice.

[alfred russel]

The play was reviewed, and the egregious block in the back was called on the field (and over-ruled on review).

If that is what happened, then the replay official, the head referee, and any other official that was aware of what was happening and didn't vehemently protest should be fired. You can't review a penalty.

But the officials never said that is what happened, or why they didn't call a penalty. They ran off the field because Miami had won and never gave anyone an explanation. I would guess that when an explanation is given, it will be that they officials decided to pick up the penalty without using replay.

[OttoVonBismarck]

I don't know if it will become a story or not, but Brian Kelly went after an assistant strength coach on the sidelines, and put his hands on the guy. Really not a good look. Has me worried he is going to have a Woody Hayes moment. To this point you could rationalize his explosions on his players and refs as motivation or intimidation tactics, but actually going after a coach is neither of those.

Also, the officiating in the 2nd half of that game came really close to determining the outcome--there were 3 straight drives--2 for ND and 1 for Temple--that were basically determined by officiating in favor of Temple (officials from the AAC). I know Berkut disagrees, but it is such a clear conflict of interest to have officials officiating out of conference games for one of their conference members, it would be nice if the practice was ended.

Some of these out of shape little Napoleon coaches need laid out. I remember the Clemson player Woody Hayes hit later said in an interview that he found the whole thing hilarious, he wasn't hurt at all by some fat out of shape senior citizen trying to flail at him--Woody was rightfully fired, but some of these coaches confuse being in charge with being Billy Bad Ass.

I heard an interview awhile back with Kevin Nash (pro wrestling fame), who played college basketball at Tennessee. He said there was an incident maybe his 2nd or 3rd year there where his head coach slapped him in the face in front of multiple witnesses. In Nash's words, he wasn't a "college kid" he was a 6'11" man that had grown up in a rough area near Detroit and nobody was slapping him in the face without getting it back. So Nash bitch slaps the coach and knocks him off his feet. That's the kind of thing I think some of these coaches need. Nash also immediately got an attorney because he knew they'd try to kick him off the team or expel him from school, and basically wasn't punished at all--the school was in an awkward position because the coach had struck a student athlete first in front of witnesses, so they knew they were opening themselves to a lot of civil liability if they didn't just make the whole thing go away. (Nash was expelled for other stuff the next year, including assaulting an RA and doing drugs in the dorms.)

[Berkut]

Well passed on getting tickets to tonight UW-Arizona game as weather is windy and rainy and game didn't start till 8pm local time.
The Huskies just scored out of halftime to make it 28-3 lead.

Kind of incredible how fast a team can go from a conference contender to a doormat.

[Berkut]

I know Berkut disagrees, but it is such a clear conflict of interest to have officials officiating out of conference games for one of their conference members, it would be nice if the practice was ended.

I agree with this.  Some conferences use third-conference refs for OOC games, and I think that's a good practice.

I don't really disagree, I just don't agree that there is a "conflict of interest".

The officials do not have an interest in the outcome of the game, regardless of what conference they work for - but if it makes people feel better to have a third conference provide the officials, that is fine as well.

The idea, however, that officials have some idea in their head that since they work for the AAC, they really should try to see if they can make the AAC team win, is kind of tin-foil.

[alfred russel]

I don't really disagree, I just don't agree that there is a "conflict of interest".

I wonder if you have the same point of view in the thread discussing arbitration. 

[grumbler]

I don't really disagree, I just don't agree that there is a "conflict of interest".

The officials do not have an interest in the outcome of the game, regardless of what conference they work for - but if it makes people feel better to have a third conference provide the officials, that is fine as well.

The idea, however, that officials have some idea in their head that since they work for the AAC, they really should try to see if they can make the AAC team win, is kind of tin-foil.

Okay, "conflict of interest" goes to far, but remember that this is AR, and if we ignored those statements of his that went to far, we would be ignoring him. 

I think that there probably is an unconscious bias in favor of the guys you work with multiple times in your career, and against guys you've never seen before and won't see again.

[grumbler]

ACC SUSPENDS MIAMI-DUKE OFFICIATING CREW

Of the two-game suspension of the on-field officiating crew as well as the replay official and communicator, the league said in a statement: "The replay official erred in not overturning the ruling on the field that the Miami player had released the ball prior to his knee being down. If called, this would have ended the game." The league cited three other uncalled penalties.

Uh, Dorsey, you might want to rethink your position vis-a-vis mine!   

[MadBurgerMaker]

Frank Beamer is going to retire at the end of the season. 

[grumbler]

Frank Beamer is going to retire at the end of the season.

A alum friend of mine who is pretty connected told me this was coming.  This wasn't Beamer's choice.

[grumbler]

Oh, and the Kelly thing was the most over-reacted-to event of the weekend.  He was right to shove his coach away from the official.  Only the head coach gets to argue calls.