NCAA Football Games in the Hands of Officials, Not Players

There is no doubt that the instant replay feature instilled in NCAA and NFL football games has changed many games for the better. Because we are all human, we will always make mistakes. 

With this incredible technology and advantage that is given to both teams, you would think that officials would be able to get every call right when it is given the chance to be reviewed. 

Now I understand that, despite the amazing clarity in today's video imaging, there are simply angles that cannot be viewed.  I get it. 

In the last two days of college bowl games (and I haven't even seen anywhere close to all of them), I have watched two games in particular taken out of the players' hands, and placed into the hands of what a lot of times seemed like a biased officiating crew's hands. 

The two games I speak of were the Clemson-Nebraska Gator Bowl and the Kentucky-East Carolina Liberty Bowl. 

For anyone that has read any of my previous articles, you all know I am a heavy Clemson fan who bleeds orange.  This is why I will talk about the Kentucky-ECU game in a few moments. 

First, the Clemson-Nebraska game. 

The Gator Bowl, for the most part, was an incredible game to be in the stands for.  It was a well-fought, back-and-forth, defensive battle that was incredibly exciting to watch. 

Something that surprised me though, was the amount of no-calls and bad calls that I watched (on both sides). 

Some people who have not clicked the back button or fallen asleep yet may be saying, "Well you don't want many penalties called because it slows the game down," or "I don't like to see the referees drag the players down and not let them play their game." 

I am right there with you.  I despise seeing games dragged out by too many ticky-tack penalties (as I call them) that could be called, but probably shouldn't. 

I also don't like seeing so many penalties that it seems like their is a yellow snot-holder flying through the air on every other play. 

But when a game is decided by a referee not throwing a flag that 40,000 fans on one side are Raising Cain and the other 40,000 are trying to withhold sheepish grins because they know they got away with one, there is something wrong. 

There were many of these that I saw (again, on both sides of the ball) during the Clemson-Nebraska nail-biter. Many of these were among the big bullies in the trenches rapping knuckles with each other. 

The big gripe I have with officiating crews though, lies in the review process. 

Any time a play is being reviewed, it is hard not to hear announcers comment how there must but "indisputable video evidence" to overturn the call on the field.

In my opinion, these simple three words are lost in the review process. 

During the Gator Bowl, there is one play in particular where I believe that this is lost.  When Joe Ganz was knocked out of the game for a series, backup Patrick Witt was brought in and fumbled the football, which was returned by Clemson to go up 27-21. 

The call was overturned. 

If you look at the replays, it is quite close whether the ball came out before Witt's knees hit the ground. But allow me to go back and restate what must be found to over-rule a call on the field (which was touchdown): "indisputable video evidence." 

I have looked back at the replays shown on TV and there is not one shred of proof the quarterback's knee was down. 

Was it incredibly likely he was down? Absolutely. 

But you cannot overturn a call on the field just because it is likely.  You have to physically see the ball in his possession when the knee touches, and you simply can't. 

Granted, the Tiger's shot themselves in the foot by having a field goal and a punt blocked.  I'm not disputing they created their own problems. 

What I am arguing is that a team should be given the chance to overcome their mistakes; not have the officiating crew hold them back from having chances to play their game. 

The Tigers went on to lose 26-21 after a desperate last-minute drive that ended in an ill-timed sack of Clemson's Cullen Harper and two incomplete passes that led to a loss on downs. 

Second, the Kentucky-East Carolina game. 

Just to be clear (because I can understand why you may think I am biased up to this point) I have absolutely zero tie to either of these teams that could raise a red flag of suspicion. 

This game was also a back-and-forth game that was going to come down to who could create an opportunity and pounce on it. 

Kentucky did this, sort of.

With about three minutes left in the game, a fumble was forced by the Kentucky defense that was picked up by Ventrell Jenkins. 

The 285-pound lineman rumbled, bumbled, stumbled his way down the field, reeling off one of the most impressive returns I have seen by a lineman and the most powerful stiff-arm I have EVER seen, for a 56-yard touchdown. It was the first time the Wildcats led in the entire game. 

The play was reviewed, of course, to ensure it was truly a fumble.  It was, no question. 

But wait...could the big man's knee have been on the ground when he wrapped his big bear-claw around the ball?  Why yes! Yes it could!

But somehow, the replay officials missed what was shown, clear as day, multiple times in beautiful high definition on my television at home. 

Now perhaps I don't know the full extent of the rules and if a play is reviewed for one thing, you can not make a call on another error in officiating that occurred. And if this is the case, then I am truly sorry and I humbly apologize for making a big deal out of something the zebras managed to get right. 

But if I am right, then how in the world could the officials both on the field and in the booth who have unlimited time and angles to view plays miss such an obvious oversight?

Personally, I don't have an opinion.  Like I said at the beginning of the article, I understand we are human and make mistakes.  But isn't that the point of the replay system? To help eliminate some of the error that occurs during the incredibly fast-paced game of football?  I thought it was. 

Not unlike the Tigers of Clemson University, the Pirates of East Carolina had ample opportunities to come back and win the game. 

The Pirates, however, seemed to shoot themselves in the foot even more than the Tigers did.  Namely the multitude of special teams returns where the return man had his knee on the ground when he caught the ball. 

There were a couple of these the officials did not see (which amazes me when an official is standing on top of the return-men, literally).

However, the one that killed any momentum the Pirates retained after the fumble return for a touchdown occurred right after the blocked extra point.  The return man caught the ball with his knee on the ground and their drive started at the 1-yard line. 

The Pirates punted four plays later and could not make a stand on defense. They allowed a huge first down that gave the Wildcats the opportunity to run out the clock and win the game 25-19. 

Again, I understand we are all human and err in our ways is just a part of human nature.  But when we are able to use this technology to eliminate these errors, and we STILL blow calls, I don't know how the student-athletes can expect to play their game. 

The officials have taken the game out of the players' hands, and put control right in their own.