When Replay Fails

[BoomerSooner]

I watched the entire game, and obviously based on my name was on the side of the Sooners, so said as objectively as I can I agree with the OP as to the calls being poorly made from the booth.

In the case of the onside kick, I think there was clear evidence regarding first touching by K. Granted I wanted to see the first touching more than most individuals, I think a robot capable of pure impartiality would have seen the same thing (not saying the game officials were playing favorites only that I am in that position). I think the bigger problem is this wasn't what was being reviewed by the booth. The only explanation the WH gave was that it was touched by R making it a live ball (this was almost his exact words, but I won't say its a direct quote). That is what confused me a little.

Secondly, on the pass interference call that was reviewed, I think this was a case of the deflection was clearly seen in any of the replays. I think they were ruling that the appearance of the balls tradjectory changing was conclusive and I won't question that. If its the case that they want direct evidence of the deflection (ball to hand contact) then I can't argue with that. Nonetheless I think the ball was deflected.

Now onto the real question the OP was presenting: evaluating the officials. We all know that officials are constantly being evaluated and I'm sure the replay officials are part of that process. I also have a feeling that these situations will be part of this crew's evaluation (my understanding is that the replay official is part of the on the field crew).

In conclusion, I think OU got a couple of calls (play clock ran out 2x and OU was not flagged), and in the end OU still had a chance. If they block on the FG attempt, they win. If they don't hand off to Peterson with :30 to go they maybe have better field position and the kicker has a little more freedom to put some air under the ball. Its as we always say teams have plenty of chances even when we miss calls. This was a perfect example.

Side note: Alot of this is me trying to come to terms with the game and put it behind me. I also have to remind myself that we aren't out of the big picture just yet.