big 10 officials under fire
 

I know the Big Ten officials are getting bad publicity for some calls. Inadventant whistles , ball spotting , clock stopping , or not but a friend of mine told me the referree called time out and needed to get the headphone's on to find out what down it was in the Penn State - Michigan State contest !! I was told Penn State came out to kick a FG on fourth down, and the white hat told them it was 3rd down !!! If an offensive coordinator wanted to kick on any down, why would an official care ? Then to not know what down it is.... Please tell me my friend was wrong. Big Ten officials can't be that bad.

No Big Ten officials are not that bad. There is always error, even on some obvious plays. It's not acceptable, but we can't generalize all the officials in the conference because there are a few rotten eggs in the carton.

From the Altoona Mirror.com:

Tough start for zebras

Referee Dave Witvoet and his crew endured their share of embarrassing moments.

Following a special teams penalty on the Nittany Lions’ Josh Hull in the first quarter, Witvoet stepped off the 10 yards — against Michigan State.

The crew corrected that mistake and put the ball at the PSU 16, where it belonged.

On the same possession, the crew credited Derrick Williams with a third-down catch that replays ruled was a trap. The call was overturned, but Witvoet told the crowd, and an ABC TV audience, that it was third down.

Penn State had already lined up for a 53-yard field goal, and after Michigan State’s coaching staff protested, Witvoet still called it third down. After a conference, the officials changed it to fourth down.

The clock operator wasn’t too swift, either. After a punt was downed with 10:40 left in the first half, the clock ticked away to 10:19. Officials then called for it to be reset to 10:29.

Witvoet (pronounced vit-vote) is the same referee that blared “timeout, Purdue!” at this year’s Penn State-Indiana game.

Late in the game, he signaled a timeout for Penn State and called out “timeout, Michigan State,” cracking up the press box.

Witvoet also was the lead referee in Penn State’s 2002 game at Michigan, a 27-24 overtime loss after which Penn State called for a Big Ten investigation of assignments and officials when a couple of controversial calls went against the Nittany Lions.

Perhaps in the interest of balanced reporting, they could also mention that Witvoet has worked a national championship game.

Not to sound insensitive or politically incorrect, but Witvoet sounds like he needs to retire. If you can't even remember which teams are playing....

Title games
 

Dave has worked two title games. What official has not pointed the wrong way on a time out. I seem to remember some five down games. The important thing is that the calls ended up being corrected.

BWHAHAHAHAHA...

balanced reporting...

that's a good one

His crew has also officiated numerous key big ten games and the Rose Bowl between USC and Texas.