Colorado-Hawaii Game Ends After Referees Don't Spot the Ball in Time

With the way their season opener against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors ended on Thursday night, the Colorado Buffaloes may feel like they got robbed of a chance to avoid a loss.

It's hard to blame them.

Trailing 28-20 with just under 15 seconds to play, Colorado was able to get the ball inside the Hawaii 10-yard line, seemingly giving them a legitimate chance to tie the game before time ran out. However, the Buffaloes would not get another snap off.

It wasn't because they weren't ready for one final play. It was because the referees couldn't get the ball set in time. 

After making the catch and getting tackled, Colorado's Phillip Lindsay quickly flipped the ball to the line judge to get things moving for the next play. The referee was then tossed a football, but the exchange between the ref and the center judge was completely flubbed.

The ball hit a Hawaii player and bounced away from the line judge, who then had a hard time picking the ball up and getting it to the line of scrimmage. By the time the ball was spotted, time had run out.

Game over.

Colorado players were understandably frustrated. Unfortunately for them, there was nothing they could do about it.

To be fair, it's not like this one play was the difference between a win and a loss. The Buffaloes would have had to score a touchdown, convert the two-point conversion and then win the game in overtime. It's just a tough loss to swallow, given the way it ended 

[Twitter, h/t Dr. Saturday]