(Comment) NCAA Football Officiating Point of Emphasis for 2015

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by RealityCheck

Scoring plays, ... deserve at least a "thumbs-up" from the replay booth when there could be doubt before play should be allowed to continue.

They do.

On a related point, there was another example of replay not jumping in to correct a spot in the Miami Beach Bowl. Indisputable video evidence showed the runner's knee was down on the 3-yard line with the ball at best barely past the 2 on a run that was ruled a touchdown. Play wasn't stopped for a review.

It was reviewed. It just wasn't stopped. And coaches can insist on a review if they feel it necessary - that didn't happen either. Probably for a reason.

[RealityCheck]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

They do.

It was reviewed. It just wasn't stopped. And coaches can insist on a review if they feel it necessary - that didn't happen either. Probably for a reason.

Lack of adequate booth reviews don't do coaches any good with no timeouts left. Challenges should not be totally dependent on having a timeout left if the review process is going to be a failure on basic things like the spot of the football. Coaches without timeouts should still be allowed to challenge and take a delay of game penalty if the challenge fails, something that is currently not allowed.

And to be clear my comments in this thread are directed more at what instant replay is not doing more than anything with on-field crews, even though there is room for on-field improvement.

A play just happened at the end of the first half of the Rose Bowl, and there is absolute indisputable video evidence that the spot was missed by more than a yard on the Florida State interception with 18 seconds left in the first half that could have given FSU an extra 3 points.

The FSU defender is on the ground as soon as he makes the interception with his helmet just short of the 48 yard line. His elbow is on the ground just past the 47, and his knees are down just short of the 47. There is no way that ball should have been spotted past about the 47 and a half given the position where the ball had to be when the interception was made. When the player rolled over sitting on the ground with the ball facing the camera, the ball was barely at the 48 and that was long after the player was clearly down with possession. The ball didn't get to the 49 until after the player stood up with the ball and took a step.

Guess where the ball was spotted?....squarely on the 49.

The intercepting player was just outside the far hash mark from the pressbox, and no other player was within 5 yards of him at the point of interception. No excuse for both the crew on the field to miss the spot that badly and for replay to then ignore the miss.

If my suggestion earlier in this thread had been in effect, play should not have continued until a thumbs-up. No thumbs-up should have been given with the spot off by over a yard.

I keep reading denials of a problem and keep routinely seeing spotting snafus like this one not get a sniff from the replay booth. That extra yard and a half could have given Florida State an extra 3 points since the missed FG that ended the half hit only about two feet up on the left upright. A straight kick that would have scored 3 might have been short or hit the crossbar from 4 feet further back.

[Rich]

Do you have a favorite windmill?

You do know the ball must be spotted on a yard line on a COP. That's in the mechanics manual. So you're saying it should be on the 48 not the 49? I can't be bothered to look at this play.

I'm not sure what you want -- you realize the spot on an interception belongs to the deep wings who could be 15-20 yards even further downfield? The short wings are at / near the LOS. So you have 4 officials, none of whom are even close to the spot. 1 yard is a reasonable margin of error here unless you think every spot should be reviewed, which is not reasonable.

I can't imagine there's anyone else seriously bothered by this particular result, BTW.

[Reffing Rev.]

I almost refuse to answer because it sounds like a discussion with someone who wants an argument. One of the criteria for review is that the play has a significant impact. That had serious implications for the spotting of the ball and it relies on the judgment of the replay official, yes he gets judgment and he gets graded on his judgment like the other 7 or 8 field officials.

In the rose bowl game the 47-49 is not worth delaying the game to split that hair. You can tell us where his helmet, hands, elbows, knees and everything else is, but it is all irrelevant. FIND THE BALL.

The "thumbs up" replay system is NOT an NCAA system. If replay or a coach does not stop the play then it stands like it did for a few decades before replay was instituted to correct egregious mistakes.

[Welpe]

This is pointless and there is nothing to be solved here. Please find another windmill to tilt at.