Quote:
Originally Posted by AremRed
Let's tackle these points one by one:
• Replay official Andrew Panucci should have ruled Miami back Mark Walton was down before releasing the ball on one of the laterals. If the proper call had been made, the game would have ended in a Duke victory.
Rule 2-4-1a says "The ball is in player possession when a player has the ball firmly in his grasp by holding or controlling it while contacting the ground inbounds". In this play the player in in the process of releasing the ball when the knee is down and I am not sure the player still has "firm grasp" of the ball at that time. Still angles show the knee was down while the ball was in the hand but I can see why they ruled it live on the field and upheld it on replay.
• The on-field officials failed to penalize Miami for an illegal block in the back at the Miami 16-yard line. If called, the ball would have been placed at the Miami 8-yard line and the game would have been extended for an untimed down.
My understanding is that it is not an IBB because the player was blocked into the player he was trying to tackle, who had just lateraled the ball.
• The on-field crew failed to penalize Miami receiver Rashawn Scott for leaving the bench and running onto the field before the play ended. The penalty would not have negated the touchdown because it would have been enforced as a dead ball foul.
There was a lot going on to miss one player running on to the field. However, he didn't interfere with the play or touch the player, so it is live ball treated as dead ball. The penalty would be enforced on the try or succeeding kickoff. Since the TD ended the game, the penalty is declined by rule.
• The block in the back penalty that was called -- at the Duke 26-yard line -- was picked up after the officials conferred, which is appropriate. They correctly determined that the block was from the side. The replay official was not involved in the decision to pick up the flag; however, referee Jerry Magallanes did not effectively manage communication and properly explain why the flag was picked up.
The communication errors are understandable -- you had 8 laterals and two flags to rule on and possibly pick up before sending the play to replay review. Apparently the review took 9 minutes but that shouldn't be a big deal because there were so many laterals too look at.
So yeah the crew wasn't perfect but certainly didn't mess up enough for a 2 game suspension.
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Excellent points, AremRed! In RT, it is quite easy to miss whether that knee is down or not. Panucci had a lot to look at and I am certain there was pressure to review everything going on as quickly as possible. A mistake? Yes. It should have been caught, but there was so much to review and I'll bet the major concerns were ensuring that none of the laterals were forward passes. I'd have called the IBB had I seen it. They screwed up, but a two-game suspension was over-the-top imho.