Referees all around college football had a less-than-stellar weekend. Controversial/questionable calls marred many games and almost effected the Bama-Texas A&M game as well. As you probably know, this hit by HaHa Clinton-Dix was called "targeting" by referee Stevie Wonder:
The replay booth overruled the targeting and the ejection that goes with it but the 15-yard personal foul, which cannot be overruled, remained. This is one messed up rule.
Texas Tech 20 TCU 10
Thursday night saw TCU's Brandon Carter have two punt returns for TDs called back for penalties. In the third quarter, Carter returned a kick 44 yards but a clipping call brought it back. A fourth quarter 69-yard punt return for a touchdown that would've tied game was negated after the Big 12 officials ruled that Carter had signaled for a fair catch, deceiving the kicking team. You be the judge:
Arizona State 32 Wisconsin 30
And the wackiest craziest ending of the weekend belonged to Wisconsin and Arizona State. With the last 18 seconds running down, the Badgers were well within field goal range on the 13-yard line when quarterback Joel Stave made a strange little kneel down in the middle of the field (did his knee touch?) and then placed the ball on the ground for the ref to spot it. Tick...tick...tick...A Sun Devil player jumped on the ball thinking it was a live ball. Tick...tick...tick... The referees kinda stood around with no urgency while the defender laid on the ball. Tick...tick...tick... Wisconsin has no timeouts left and the ball has still not been spotted. Tick...tick...tick... The back referee confirms he knelt down but Tick...tick...tick... Stave realizing the clock is draining down gets his team to line up for a quick spike Tick...tick...tick... but time runs out. With no review, no referee huddle, not even an explanation, the zebras run off the field satisfied that they did everything they could have to call a fair game.
I have to confess, when I saw it the first time, I did not see the QB kneel down. I, like the ASU defense, thought it was a live ball. So, I cannot criticize the defender for jumping on it. It was all so confusing.
The real problem was the casual little stroll the ref made to the ball with a Sun Devil spooning the football. It is the ref's responsibility to get it spotted at quickly as possible and if the defender does not get off the ball, a delay of game flag should be thrown. Wisconsin is not without fault though. With no timeouts left, the offense probably should have lined up quicker. Additionally, they might have been better served if they had gone ahead and kicked it on the initial play instead of downing it, just in case there was a bad snap or something.
BTW, this was a Pac-12 officiating crew.
With the loss, the Pac-12 took three games against foes from the Big Ten this weekend with Washington beating Illinois and UCLA defeating Nebraska. Ouch!
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"Huh.I didn't see that coming." (Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports)
MACK FALL DOWN, GO BOOM
The Longhorn natives are beyond getting restless. They are downright perturbed. Ole Miss took it to Texas 44-23 holding the Burnt Orange to 0 points and 100 total yards in the second half. Meanwhile, the Rebel Ackbar Bears scored 30 straight to close out the win. This comes a week after tripping up at BYU 41-30 and getting a heart-felt thumbs up from Texas AD DeLoss Dodd (age 112). I hope he took DeLoss like a man. If you have lost track of Bevo since January 7, 2010, here is a quick recap:
- 23-18 overall.
- 11-15 in Big XII games.
- 3-12 vs. ranked teams.
- Three straight losses to Oklahoma by a combined score of 146-58.
- 11-10 in the past 21 home games.
BONUS: Several media outlets reported that Mack Brown was booed when he appeared on the video screen doing a prerecorded PSA for at-risk children during Saturday night's game at Darrell K. Royal Memorial Stadium.
Ole Miss on the other hand is high as a kite after this big win. They have a bye week before they head to Tuscaloosa on Saturday, September 28, 5:30 p.m. CT (ESPN).
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"Git outta mah way." (Photo by: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)
Oregon 59 Tennessee 14
Oregon is looking mighty strong and some of their fans were chanting "We want Bama!" But they should know better than to put the cart before the horse or duck in this case. The Quackers will need to get through a four-game stretch starting Oct. 12 at #17 Washington, Washington State (Oct. 19), #13 UCLA (Oct. 26), and ending on national TV at #5 Stanford on Thursday, Nov 7.
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GRAB BAG
° Penn State (2-1) somehow lost to UCF 34-31. The post-Paterno doldrums are long from leaving State College.
° Ohio State and Notre Dame are up to the same old lame football they played in 2012. Both schools went 12-0 in last year's regular season but looking deeper you saw that it was not that impressive. Saturday, #21 Irish again puttered around with Purdue (1-2) for 60 minutes before finally winning 31-24... The Buckeyes gave up 34 to Cal (1-2) but scored 52 of their own. Their next big challege: Florida A&M. Have you noticed how #4 OSU has slowly been sliding down the polls?
° Louisville was careful not to wake any viewers tuning into see them defeat Kentucky 27-13. The Wildcats are looking like one of the most difficult games on their 2013 schedule. Rutgers (2-1) lost to Fresno in Week 1. Cincinnati (2-1) lost to Illinois. USF is 0-3. Can you imagine a schedule with your biggest hurdles being UK, Rutgers, and Cincy? Louisville is the new Boise State.
° UCLA 41 Nebraska 21 - The Bruins (2-0) erased an 18-point deficit in Lincoln and took down the 'Huskers 41-21. Bo Pelini's reign in Nebraska is starting to look a lot like the Bret Bielema scenario in Wisconsin. Winning seasons, bowl losses, and unrealistic fan expectations. Mr. Pelini, welcome to the hot seat.
ALUMNI ALERT: South Alabama 31 Western Kentucky 24
It was nice to see coach Joey Jones get a win over sleazeball Bobby Petrino. The former Crimson Tide star WR Jones has been the only coach the Jaguars have ever known. USA (2-1) is in their second season of FBS (I-A) football. As for Petrino, let's hope there are many more losses in his future.
Coming Up:
#3 Clemson at NC State (Thurs, 6:30pm CT, ESPN): The Tigers have a rich tradition of losing a game they shouldn't. Could this be one?
Tennessee at #19 Florida (2:30pm CT, CBS): The Vols and the Gators battle to see who has the worst QB.
Michigan State at #22 Notre Dame (2:30pm CT, NBC): M'eh.
Colorado State at #1 Alabama (6pm CT, ESPN2): Jim McElwain returns to T-Town. Will Saban go easy on him?
#23 Arizona State at #5 Stanford (6pm CT, FOX): A game between two ranked teams but does ASU really deserve a ranking (see above)?
Auburn at #6 LSU (6:45pm CT, ESPN): See the poll below.
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ELIMINATED FROM BCS CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENTION:
Army
Boston College
Duke
Illinois
Indiana
Kansas
Penn State
TCU
Tennessee
Texas
SoCal
Virginia
Wake Forest Brigham Young
California
Iowa
Iowa State
Kansas State
Kentucky
Mississippi State
North Carolina
Oregon State
Pittsburgh
Purdue
Syracuse
Vanderbilt
Washington State