[Fan10]

I was sitting in the stands Saturday at an NCAA Division One Game when I saw what I know is every official's worst nightmare. The ball carrier was hit, and as he was going to the ground, he lost the ball. It was recovered by the defense. However, while the ball was loose, one of the officials blew the whistle. The offense replayed the down, and on the drive ended up scoring a touchdown. Luckily, the game was a blowout, so it had no effect on the outcome of the game. But, I know the official felt horrible. I felt bad for him as I know he knew he made a major mistake and that there was nothing that anyone nor instant replay could do for him.

But, I got to thinking about something. A few years ago, instant replay started being able to address a ruling of the runner down as long as there was an immediate recovery. So, what if the official in this game Saturday once he realized what he had done had come running in pointing to the ground ruling the ball carrier down (even though he knew he was wrong)? At that point, replay could have addressed it and fixed his mistake (minus a small return by the defense that I know could not have been addressed). While this does seem like it is going the long way around, it seems like a way that it could have been fixed. And, on top of that, I'm sure that the official would have slept much better last night.

Thoughts?