Bad calls against Alabama in the LSU game

Now that the video replay of the LSU game is up at the SEC website, I thought I would look back and check a couple of the bad calls that I thought we got in that game.  The corn dogs, drive by media, and other low lifes are harping on the non-interception as evidence that Alabama won with help from the refs. But there were some equally bad mis-calls that gave LSU a significant edge.  In fact, 8 of LSU's 15 points were very likely set up on an LSU punt where it appears that their players touched the ball around the 3 yard line causing it to roll down to the very edge of the alabama goal line.  The punt takes place at 85:15 of the video which you can see the video here:  http://www.secdigitalnetwork.com/video/alabama.aspx

The punt initially lands at the Alabama 5, bounces to the 2, then bounces back to the 3 yard line.  At this point several LSU players arrive, surrounding the ball.  With the camera angle you can't see the ball very well, but it appears that an LSU player does touch the ball.  The ball goes from bouncing one direction to rolling along the ground in the opposite direction.  Ultimately, the video is inconclusive because of players blocking the view of the ball, but at the very least that play should have been reviewed.  If we get the ball at the 3, that series very likely plays out much differently.  However, we ended up getting a safety and LSU scored a TD off the ensuing free kick.

The other time we got screwed was on our first offensive play.  I think it's pretty clear that Smelley caught that ball, but unfortunately the replay booth was out at the time. 

The Smelley catch, pictures presented chronologically:

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It's clear that Smelley has a firm grasp on the ball with the one hand thought the play .  When he made the catch, he got both feet down.  He was then knocked out of bounds, and the ball comes out when he lands.  Unless I'm mistaken, the rule that you have to maintain possession as you land would apply if he hadn't already come down with the ball in his possession.  Since he never bobbled the ball (contrary to what Danielson claimed at the time) after coming down in the field of play, maintaining possession when he lands out of bounds should not have been an issue. 

The Smelley incompletion ultimately had little effect on the game, but it just goes to show you that mistakes are made both ways.  In just about every game you can find a suspect call that helped one team win.  That's the nature of the game, so expect to keep hearing about this BS as the season continues and next year as well.