Since the beginning of time, there have always been complaints about the officials. It’s part of the game, you were told, and fortunately the vast majority of calls were made correctly.
When there’s a bad call, you were taught, you let it go.
Midway through this season, it does not seem like fans of college football are going to “let it go” this time.
It all started with Virginia Tech’s game with Miami. The elephant in the room wasn’t the actual call, as even the most ardent Hokie fan will concede you really couldn’t see the details well enough to make an absolute call. But the officials on the field DID make a call, and the reversal that was based on an instant replay which has always had a rock-solid, 100 percent money back guarantee policy that there had to be INDISPUTABLE evidence set everyone’s hair on fire.
Compounding it was the headquarters of the Atlantic Coast Conference issuing a further explanation that was not just a mere word salad but an entire Golden Corral all-you-can-eat word dinner bar that made little sense. Distilled down to its primary components, the explanation was similar to what your parents told you at the age of three when you questioned one of their decisions: “Because we said so.”
The next week ACC officials did it again in a game with Cal. In combination with the befuddled handling of what happened in Miami, the ACC has now turned its officiating into a meme. As a result, what happened yesterday in college football should really be no surprise.
Louisville and Miami were tied late in Saturday’s game and before any controversial call could really occur, people were already waiting for Louisville to get jobbed by ACC officials. By people, I’m not talking about John Q. Casual Fan. On social media, these were major sports media people who sway public opinion that were saying this. It was a joke to them, that somehow they knew if the game was tight, an official’s call would go Miami’s way.
“I think all these posts asking if the ACC will somehow job Louisville so Miami can stay undefeated are interesting,” I posted on X, echoing these sentiments. “I mean, there’s no doubt they will, but I still think people having to ask is interesting :)”
Then came a play where Miami QB Cam Ward’s arm was hit going forward, the play was called a fumble on the field, and Louisville returned it for a touchdown. The expected outrage came, but the problem was this wasn’t a difficult play to call. Ward’s arm WAS moving forward and 98 percent of the time the whistle blows and it’s called an incomplete pass. Officials now are leaning too heavily on instant replay, letting it go and letting somebody with a headset in an office with multiple monitors make critical decisions.
Which is where the whole “indisputable evidence” deal keeps coming in.
Later that night in Texas, more controversy. The Longhorns, who were facing a game where Georgia’s game plan seemed to be “Bevo…it’s what’s for dinner,” intercepted a Bulldog pass that was immediately nullified by a pass interference call on the Texas defender. When you initially watched it, the ball was in the air, there was contact between defender and receiver, and those are usually the components that cause a pass interference call.
I watched the replay about half a dozen times this morning and each time in slow motion, you saw something different. First time you think, yeah, it’s pass interference. Second time, hey, the receiver seems to be pushing off to get away from the defender so maybe it’s offensive pass interference. Third time, hey, did the defender briefly grab the sleeve of the receiver? And on and on it went. It’s the kind of play that would have been a good no call, since every time you looked at it from a different angle, at least I tended to change my mind.
Also the kind that’s tough to see anything resembling “indisputable proof.”
Normally you wouldn’t use instant replay on a pass interference call. When replay was originally introduced, in fact, you couldn’t and that ability has only been recently introduced. Texas fans booed lustily, threw water bottles and created the impression that might cause one to think the fans were about to bully the refs into changing the call. And when the refs did actually reverse the call, that’s exactly what everyone DID think.
It didn’t change the results, as Georgia was in control the entire game. But that perception around that reversal isn’t healthy for the game. Like them or not, officials need to be looked upon as in control; show signs of weakness and coaches will eat them alive from the sidelines. And allow anyone to think – right or wrong – that fan behavior could influence an official’s decision, and you have one fine mess.
We’re getting to the point of being beyond this being a meme or something to joke about. Back on the old sandlot, the wisecracks would stop when the coach would gather everyone in a circle, poke that chubby index finger of his at us and say something wise like “you guys knock this crap off.” It wasn’t Shakespeare. But it worked.
Conspiracy theory or not, folks seem to be getting into this “the man behind the curtain” is controlling their favorite team’s football fortunes a bit too much.
One more week of this and it may be time for college football’s illuminati to gather everyone in a circle. And quote the prose of a famous old sandlot coach…
