Alabama/Auburn

[Rich]

Originally Posted by asdf

How about the sideline not covered on the return?

The L is stuck inside when he pinches in after the kick. The F is under the upright and has no chance to get to the sideline. While Davis does not go out of bounds, that sideline was challenged and not covered until the L recovers from the hash (you see him weaving between players) and gets there after Davis passes him and cuts it back inside....

The L got sucked in. Thankfully, replay would've been there if the runner had stepped out of bounds.

[maven]

Originally Posted by Rich

The L got sucked in. Thankfully, replay would've been there if the runner had stepped out of bounds.

Maybe. I've still seen no sideline shot, and the sideline cameras might have been retasked for "end of game" shots and not watching the sidelines during the runback.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by maven

Maybe. I've still seen no sideline shot, and the sideline cameras might have been retasked for "end of game" shots and not watching the sidelines during the runback.

One shot didn't have the straight on angle, but it sure looked like he was in-bounds all the way down.

I'm an F and I know for a fact that the second the kick's blocked, I'm sprinting for the sideline -- so while the L is not there, it could very well be the case the F is on the sideline (albeit many yards away).

[ajmc]

An unbelievable ending, that boils down to a single fact; the Auburn team kept their head in the game up to the ACTUAL end, Alabama was thinking about Overtime.

[BktBallRef]

Originally Posted by ajmc

An unbelievable ending, that boils down to a single fact; the Auburn team kept their head in the game up to the ACTUAL end, Alabama was thinking about Overtime.

And the Auburn coach put his team in a position to win by kicking the game tying extra point instead of going for 2.

[OKREF]

And the Alabama coach put his team in position to lose when he went for it on fourth down with 5 minutes left, instead of kicking a 30 yard field goal to make it a 10 point game. However he probably had zero confidence in his kicker at that time.

[hbk314]

Originally Posted by OKREF

And the Alabama coach put his team in position to lose when he went for it on fourth down with 5 minutes left, instead of kicking a 30 yard field goal to make it a 10 point game. However he probably had zero confidence in his kicker at that time.

Yet he chose to attempt a 57-yard field goal over a hail mary?

I guess hindsight makes it easy.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by BktBallRef

And the Auburn coach put his team in a position to win by kicking the game tying extra point instead of going for 2.

Unlike that Head Coach of that Team Up North.

MTD, Sr.

[tmagan]

Originally Posted by Rich

The L got sucked in. Thankfully, replay would've been there if the runner had stepped out of bounds.

Here is the problem, at midfield, the camera was blocked by the Alabama player, which means the Auburn player could have stepped out of bounds and no one would have saw it, since there was the double umpire format.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by tmagan

Here is the problem, at midfield, the camera was blocked by the Alabama player, which means the Auburn player could have stepped out of bounds and no one would have saw it, since there was the double umpire format.

The S is the double umpire. The F is on the L's side. My first movement on a blocked kick or a returned FG/try is to bust for the pylon and work reverse mechanics.

No matter. At the moment that Alabama player cut in front of the camera, it's obvious the player is in bounds. Also, the L is working to get back there and you don't have to be standing on the line to see if a player hits white.

I'm not excusing the line judge - he got sucked in - but I don't see it as a huge disaster, not on this play.

[asdf]

Originally Posted by Rich

No matter. At the moment that Alabama player cut in front of the camera, it's obvious the player is in bounds. Also, the L is working to get back there and you don't have to be standing on the line to see if a player hits white.

While I agree the runner stayed in bounds, if an official is at numbers looking out, (where the L was) he is guessing if a runner has the outside of his foot touching white or he's 1/2" on the in bounds side of it.

[Texas Aggie]

The line judge should have anticipated the return and stayed home. Auburn called a timeout to set that up. There are no fewer than 3 officials in the middle and they can handle any inside issue that comes up -- the L can't really do much until the ball is dead anyway.

Having a presence is fine, but not at the expense of leaving a sideline uncovered. In 5 man mechanics, this can't be helped but in 7, it can.

[Rich]

Originally Posted by Texas Aggie

The line judge should have anticipated the return and stayed home. Auburn called a timeout to set that up. There are no fewer than 3 officials in the middle and they can handle any inside issue that comes up -- the L can't really do much until the ball is dead anyway.

Having a presence is fine, but not at the expense of leaving a sideline uncovered. In 5 man mechanics, this can't be helped but in 7, it can.

I agree. The L just wasn't aware of the situation, it seemed.

[parepat]

AN additional matter that no one is talking about...putting the one second back on the clock. The runners foot touched down out of bounds with 1 second left. The ruling to put time back discounts that time for human reaction of the official and the clock operator which is present in every other play of the game. Instead of the new 3 second rule for spiking, I think there should be some margin for error in this situation to account for human reaction time. Thoughts?