The replay official overturned the interference and gave the ball back to Auburn. It was later discovered that the replay official was not only an Auburn alumnus, but was also a big booster to the program. I guess that’s how he got the job. Nevertheless, this blatant home cooking cost LSU a chance to play for the SEC Championship and possibly a national title.

1.      Ohio State vs. Miami (Florida) – January 3, 2003 (BCS National Title Game)

Miami came into the Fiesta Bowl heavily favored and led by their standout quarterback Ken Dorsey. The game was an epic battle that went back and forth until the final seconds ticked off the regulation clock and the game went into overtime.

Miami scored a touchdown on their first possession, forcing Ohio State to respond in kind or lose the game. Ohio State fails on their first three attempts and ends up facing 4^th down and 3 on the 5 yard line. They must score or Miami wins the game.

Krenzel drops back and throws for Chris Gamble in the end zone, but the ball goes incomplete. Miami wins. But wait, then a referee who had apparently just woken up from a nap decides that he thinks he saw interference, he throws a flag.

They have to get the fans off the field and the coaches back to the sidelines. The flag came in way after the play was over and the Hurricanes were already celebrating a national title. Looks like Ohio State would get another chance.

The replay shows that the Gamble touched the ball and it bounced off his shoulder pads well before the Miami defender touched him. According to the official definition of pass interference, this was not it. 

When later asked about why the flag was thrown so late, the referee said he was “going over the play in his head to see if there was interference.  Huh?!  Does he have a video-graphic memory?  How about just looking at the Jumbotron?

In fact, if the call wasn’t so obvious that he had to think about it, perhaps he shouldn’t have thrown the flag on fourth down in overtime at the national freaking championship game.  Sure, Miami got one more chance to tie the game and blew it, but the point was that the game was over but they were still playing because of a horrible call.

The one good thing that came out of this king of all blunders was the implementation of instant replay in college football. 

Now if we can just get the homers out of the replay booths!

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