ACC Championship Offside Call

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by umpjim

Not a football guy. Didn't the UNC coach indicate that a ref said there were three players that he could indicate as offside. Would that suggest the 35 yard line?

The ACC has acknowledged that the call was for offside at the 35 yard line, not a 9 yard mark infraction.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

The ACC has acknowledged that the call was for offside at the 35 yard line, not a 9 yard mark infraction.

Isn't that what I said above?

On Facebook, I have a Clemson-grad-friend who is *still* trying to justify this call. When I actually put substance in front of him, he just replies, "OK, whatever." OK, whatever.

But in my opinion it doesn't help officiating when people double down on obviously incorrect calls.

[scrounge]

Originally Posted by Rich

Isn't that what I said above?

On Facebook, I have a Clemson-grad-friend who is *still* trying to justify this call. When I actually put substance in front of him, he just replies, "OK, whatever." OK, whatever.

But in my opinion it doesn't help officiating when people double down on obviously incorrect calls.

Yep....it's a fairly simple thing. He missed it. Yea, it's unfortunate but it happened. IMO it should be reviewable - it's a point of fact thing, like 12 men on the field, not judgment like holding. Now, angles may mean that it would take an egregious miss to get overturned. But this was one of them - and replay could have saved that official from being the story of the week.

The call isn't getting nearly as much indignation as the Miami-Duke because a) something crazy didn't happen immediately after, and b) no one outside of Chapel Hill really wanted to see UNC crash the CFP party and were fine how it turned out. But it still was missed. Life goes on.

[CT1]

Originally Posted by scrounge

no one outside of Chapel Hill really wanted to see UNC crash the CFP party and were fine how it turned out.

According to the "experts", that wouldn't have happened anyway. It would have come down to Stanford, Ohio State, or (gasp!) Clemson for the 4th spot.

[Suudy]

Originally Posted by scrounge

Yep....it's a fairly simple thing. He missed it. Yea, it's unfortunate but it happened.

My confusion is that this wasn't an error of omission (not seeing something that is there), but error of commission (seeing something that isn't there). When a hold happens, it's easy to say an official "missed" it because he didn't see it. But when a hold doesn't happen, and there's a flag on the ground..? These, I think, are the most frustrating and confusing.

So, the official saw something. I don't know what it is, but he saw something. Like in a hold, the official saw a ball of jersey in a player's hand. Or the sometimes case where you see a player go flying onto his face, and the official turns and assumes that he was pushed in the back. And it wasn't a "miss," at least how I see it. (I know, I know, "miss" is a generic term for not seeing something there and for seeing something not there, but I'm not a fan of the terminology.)

And frankly from the replay, I don't know what he could have seen. Perhaps he thought the kicker's foot was some other player's foot?

Also, the kick was boxed in (like we always do for onside kicks). So there was an official on both sides of the ball. Since the far side official didn't throw a flag, I suspect it had to be a player on the near side. And the closest one is the second from the bottom. Perhaps he saw a hand or finger break the plane at the kick?

Anyway, without a camera looking down the 35 yard line, and no statement forthcoming from the official with the flag, we'll never know what he saw or what he thought he saw.

[Just4Kicks]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

The ACC has acknowledged that the call was for offside at the 35 yard line, not a 9 yard mark infraction.

The ACC announcement was most likely drawn up without even talking to the official who made the call. The 9 yard mark infraction is an offside just as the 35 yard line infraction. Some folks have tried to say it would be called illegal formation, but if that were true, then so would the "normal" offside, which in the rule book is included in a section of rules that technically fall under illegal formations.

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Just4Kicks

The ACC announcement was most likely drawn up without even talking to the official who made the call.

For someone who's never, EVER, been anywhere near a situation like this, I find it odd you think you have the perspective to tell us what "most likely" happened.

As someone more familiar to this situation ... I promise you the ACC did not announce ANYTHING before talking to the officials - likely for quite a long time.