Texas Tech-Oklahoma: Red Raider Failure or Foregone Conclusion For Sooners?

If there is one thing true about college football, it is that momentum is often the death of a team, even when they seem invincible.  There are a few things that can make very strong currents of momentum suddenly shift and begin flowing the opposite direction.  Here are some examples of the non-calls and mistakes by the referee team during the game.

In Saturday's game between Texas Tech and Oklahoma, there were definitely occurrences that insured the ebb and flow would stay with the Sooners.  There were, in fact, several just within the first quarter.

To begin with, there were several times throughout the game (actually several just in the first quarter) when Sam Bradford was very guilty of false starts.  Bradford, when OU called a running play, would get under center, make his pre-snap calls, and then, a split second before receiving the snap, he would step back with one foot; this is a false start.

If you want to see what I am talking about, the first one occurred at 10:47 left in the first quarter; the second one, which was much worse, was at 9:54, on the Tech 3-yard line.  Multiple false starts, had they been called, would have probably made Bradford as uncomfortable as Harrell in the pocket, changing the tempo and momentum of the game.

There was a play in the first quarter with an Oklahoma defensive lineman lined up with his hands on the ground over the line of scrimmage, and his helmet nearly even with some of Tech's offensive players' pads.

The first offensive play of the game for OU had an offsides call against Tech, even though the Sooners left tackle jumped just before the snap.  Yes, I know how encroachment works, but they called offsides, not encroachment.

At 7:04 left in the first quarter, there was a pass from Harrell to Tramain Swindall called incomplete.  Swindall caught the ball, never bobbled it, put one foot down inbounds, then fell out of bounds onto his back.  An Oklahoma player dove on top of him, knocking the ball out of Swindall's hands, after they had already slid six feet out of bounds, with his elbow.  The play was wrongly ruled as an incomplete catch.

Throughout the first quarter I noticed several OU linemen bobbing a little in their pre-snap stances, and at 5:20 left, the tight end whipped his head around to face forward, and then leaned forward just prior to the snap.

I remember as I watched the game that these things kept making me think, "Hmm.  Tech can't even try to mount a comeback if the rules don't apply evenly to both teams."

Now, don't get me wrong.  I am sure that a few of these calls were obviously not the difference in the game.  However, I learned from the great C.S. Lewis "most people know what has happened; there are a few that may know what will happen; but noone knows what would have happened.

Because of this belief I cannot say whether TTU would have won with more even officiating, but I can say the game would have been closer, the game would have been more fun to watch, and I would not still have a sour taste in my mouth.