Did Nebraska Get Screwed in the Big 12 Title game?
by Jon Johnston on Dec 7, 2009 7:45 AM CST
in Nebraska Husker Football
27 comments
There's a lot of angst going around about that one second that was put back on the clock that allowed Texas to kick their winning field goal.
Did the ball hit out of bounds with a second remaining? Admittedly, not as high-def as you'd like, but it's not that bad, either. The ball did hit out of bounds with one second left.
A lot of the contention is whether or not the officials should have put one second back on the clock after time had expired. Bo Pelini will get an explanation from the Big 12 this week, and whatever it is it won't change anything.
What will be remembered, however, is the image of Mack Brown gesturing for one second to be put back on the clock.
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The game might remind Husker fans on the '94 Orange Bowl in which Nebraska was granted one more second before sailing a field goal attempt wide in the 18-16 loss to Florida State. I'd rather go back a little further, however, when putting time back on the clock had much darker meaning. I find the parallels to be much closer than the '94 game.
I am, of course, talking about those commie bastards that stole the 1972 Olympics basketball gold medal:
If you ever wondered whether or not Texas truly is the "evil empire", well... you don't get any more "evil empire" than either of those examples, do you?
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1 second
I fully understand why you are disappointed by the second remaining on the clock. However, Is there anyone other than Nebraska, TCU and Cincy fans questioning the call? Your photo evidence would never be admissible as visual evidence. I just doesn’t show anything. Also, there are reports that the ball hit the railing your arrow is emanating from. Although not the best source, but the broadcast booth was pretty confident there was time left.
To make matters even more convoluted, I was sitting in the section behind Mack Brown and he was calling for a timeout with 10 seconds remaining that was never granted.
I think it’s fine to be upset about the outcome, but I think it’s a stretch to call us the evil empire. I think you are cheapening the wonderful effort by your defense and the hard fought effort your offense put forth when you roll out the conspiracy theory. Big Red put up a heck of a fight, be proud, you’re on your way back.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
Dude, read the fourth sentence.
He clearly states that the ball did go out with one second left.
He is comparing a University to communism. It does not get more tongue in cheek than that.
I love a good conspiracy theory
But this just doesn’t fit the bill. Think about it: We would’ve gone ballistic if Nebraska was in Texas’ situation and the second wasn’t added.
The calls that Nebraska fans legitimately should be angry about were the two second-half PI calls. Nebraska’s physical, bump-and-run coverage disappeared once the refs sent the Huskers the very clear message that they’d call anything within a country mile of illegal contact.
And then – voila! – the middle-of-the-field slant routes opened up for the first all game for Texas with the Huskers playing softer on the corners, allowing the Horns to move down the field just enough to shift the field position, and then just enough to score the winning field goal.
All that said, Nebraska didn’t get screwed by the refs as much as it got screwed by its own offense. As we learned already this year at Virginia Tech, it’s tough to beat a top-3 team (essentially) on the road when you don’t score a touchdown.
I agree abotu the PI calls
in particular that one where the announcers were laughing in disbelief, expecting the other officials to rule the pass uncatchable and wave off the penalty. Sadly, they did not, gifting Texas a first on what had been a failed 3rd and 13 (I think) where Colt sailed the ball yards out of bounds, and then Texas proceeded to get stuffed on three plays by our D and kick their first field goal to go up 10-6.
Agreed Cheese...
The offense is to blame for every loss this season sans the Texas Tech game.
If they could have produced at least one TD against the Cyclones, we win.
If they could have mustered up one extra TD against Virginia Tech, we win.
If they could have scored just one TD against Texas, we are Big 12 Champions.
The play was correct, and we have no one to blame but our own pathetic offense. A big piece of the championship puzzle was found this season in our defense. Maybe next year we can put a good offense on the field and compete for the National Title. It just wasn’t our year, and frankly we should be satisfied with playing Arizona in a bowl game. We couldn’t score against Texas, and I don’t think we would have any better results against Boise State
The real question
is whether such a play is reviewable at all.
Let’s say it’s first and 10 on that last drive, 1:44 left or whatever. We flush Colt out of the pocket and he sails the ball out of bounds. Does Mack Brown get to pout and add a second or two back to the clock upon further review if he thinks the timekeeper was a little slow to recognize when the ball hit the turf? Can he do that with 8 minutes left in the fourth? Midway through the third? On the last drive of the first half?
A second or two is probably improperly added or subtracted on every drive, on every incomplete pass. Are all of these plays independently reviewable? Or only the very last play of the game? Where is the rule that states as much?
Now, I would freely admit that it might be a good idea to make a rule that allows replays to confirm the final expiration of the game clock, but I have not seen or read that such a rule currently exists. So what happened instead was Calvinball, with Mack, the Big XII and the BCS making up the rules as they went along.
Limitations on Reviewable Plays
ARTICLE 6. No other plays or officiating decisions are reviewable. However, the replay official may correct egregious errors, including those involving the game clock, whether or not a play is reviewable. This excludes fouls that are not specifically reviewable.
meanwhile, suh is a monster and if he’s not taken as the first pick in the upcoming draft i will be shocked
i have nothing to cheer about this game aside from the fact that the team i cheer for won
Link?
Also, is one second ticking off an “egregious” error. Not by any definition of “egregious” with which I am familiar. I believe that example even refers to the officials failing to stop the clock after a punt landing in the end zone and seeing 35 or 40-some seconds incorrectly tick off. A single second on an incomplete pass is not an egregious error — as my comment said, it happens probably at least once a drive throughout the game.
The only egregious error on that play was Colt’s moronic decision-making.
i'll look for it
in the meantime here’s another swipe i found
http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/story/1813827.html
Walt Anderson, the Big 12 coordinator of football officials, cited Rule 12:3 during a post-game explanation of league procedures. But he did not cite the article. In the Big 12 rules, Article 3 under Rule 12:3 says a replay-related clock adjustment can be made only “when a ruling on the field is reversed.”
However, Article 6 trumps Article 3 because it allows for correction of clock-related errors on any play. After the game, Anderson noted that the clock was re-set on more than one play during the contest and that replay officials had a clear view, provided by TV cameras, that showed the incomplete pass hitting the ground with one second remaining.
“Any type of an egregious clock error can be corrected,” Anderson said after the game. “This is exactly what we want the officials to do.”
i agree that colt’s decision making in the last few plays was not the best
i disagree that something which changes if a game should end or not isn’t considered egregious … however i suppose it’s a judgment call
Fair enough
I agree it would be highly unfortunate for the game to end that way, but under the rules as they are, that appears to be the result. A one-second error does not seem egregious at all, it’s pretty ordinary. Certainly, this particular one-second error would have had enormous consequences, but that does not make the specific error itself particularly and unusually bad, i.e. egregious (m-w.com defines as “conspicuously bad”).
As my comment above indicated, I am more incensed about some of the bogus pass interference calls on clearly and indisputably uncatchable balls thrown yards and yards out of bounds. And I would also certainly support a change to the rule to allow timekeeping adjustments to review and correct egregious errors and to review and correct time remaining on quarter-, half-, and game-ending plays.
What we should be more mad about is the fact that Texas didn’t get called for one single hold in that game, even though Herbsreit called the officials and Texas out on it. They were showing a slo month replay of a tackle and the offensive lineman is holding on for dear life to Suh’s shoulder pads.
Hang 'em!!!
by Screwface on Dec 7, 2009 12:34 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
I think it’s reasonable to consider one second an egregious error if that one second is the difference between the game being over or not.
by Cheeseandcorn on Dec 8, 2009 9:58 AM CST up reply actions
The rule can found in the official NCAA rules here: http://www.ncaapublications.com/ProductsDetailView.aspx?sku=FR09 You don’t need to buy it, just download the pdf version. The relevant part is Rule 12, Section 3, Article 6.
Thanks
but that again is the same portion quoted above, and a one-second error simply does not meet the definition of “egregious,” the definition of which is “conspicuously bad.”
An egregious timekeeping error would be a failure to stop the clock after a punt into the end zone or an incomplete pass and some 20 to 40 seconds tick off incorrectly. That is conspicuously bad and obviously incorrect.
Dozens of incomplete passes occur in every game, and likely several of those plays involve an inaccurate stop that bleeds one or two seconds off the game clock incorrectly. If “egregious error” is defined to include that, then every game should be constantly stopped for reviews to make sure an extra second did not tick off after each incomplete pass.
Bottom line — the play was not reviewable under the NCAA rules. Texas “won” this game only under Calvinball, make-it-up-as-you-go-along rules.
and by quoted above
I meant in the 833am post by abcdmetrius, not the other section quoted by him from the news article in his 853am post.
Perhaps this may help
A bit further on, in Rule 12, Section 5, Article 1, the rules say:
There are two methods to stop a game to review a ruling on
the field.
a. The replay official and his crew shall review every play of a game. He
may stop a game at any time before the ball is next legally put in play
(Exception: Rule 12-3-5-c) whenever he believes that:
1. There is reasonable evidence to believe an error was made in the
initial on-field ruling.
2. The play is reviewable.
3. The outcome of a review would have a direct, competitive impact on
the game.
(part b discusses Coach’s challenges)
I think the case here meets the three criteria. The video is very clear that the ball landed out of bounds with 1 second, Section 3, Article 6 says that clock is reviewable, and it certainly impacted the game. The third criterion in this rule suggests that the proper measure of whether a clock error is “egregious” or not is the impact is has upon the game.
I don’t think that it does. Those criteria seem very separate from the mention of “egregious.” One is in the section on initiating replays and concerns what the replay booth should review of its own accord. The other is in the section on what kinds of plays may be reviewed at all, and was only added this year, as a “The replay official can correct gross errors.” An example of the latter is given in the Approved Rulings, it involves the clock running down unnoticed for over a minute when it should be stopped.
12 N. O. and two games up for Dome Field Advantage!
The Ducks only had one all-conference player, but THERE AIN'T NO I IN ROSES!
Honesty I think there was 1 sec left
And Texas should have gotten it put back on. Would I have taken the win had they not been able to review it? Oh hell yes, you’re talking to a fan base that has lost to Penn St with a catch out of bounds. But all in all it was called correctly.
Can you image the whining from Texas had they not reviewed it? That would have been awesome.
You can't possibly be a scientist if you mind people thinking that you're a fool.
~Wanko the Sane
Big Red Kool-aid Drinker @ Corn Nation
It would have been awesome
and it should be what happened.
The NCAA rules helpfully linked to by mgravity show that “egregious” errors may be reviewed and corrected, but a one-second bleeding of the clock on an incomplete pass is not egregious or unsual — it probably happens a dozen times each game.
What should have happened is for everyone to re-asses the Instant Replay rules, recognize that they should be amended to include review of expiration of the game clock at the end of each quarter, and then do so for next year.
In fact, it is possible they will do so, and thereby implicitly acknowledge that it was unclear and likely improper for this review to have taken place.
Context of the game
Is four feet on the spot of the ball a “conspicuously bad” error which should warrant a replay? Is the fact that a player’s toe touches the grass two inches to the left or to the right of a line especially significant? What about one second running off of the clock on an incomplete pass?
They are all innocuous and part of the minutiae of the game. That is where context comes into play. This one second discrepancy was the difference in deciding the conference championship, thus satisfying the “egregious error” criteria to trigger the replay IMO.
"It's not that the Irish are cynical. It's rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody."
-- Brendan Behan --
by Zeno of Citium on Dec 7, 2009 2:05 PM CST up reply actions
Those calls
do not fall under the “egregious error” category permitting review; the rules explicitly make reviewable plays involving any error connected to the spot of a ball, like that on NU’s 4th down run in the first quarter, or to whether a player came down with the ball in bounds.
The rules, however, do not give a blanket mandate to review timekeeping, and limit the review to correcting “egregious” errors. An error that occurs dozens of times during each game without review is not egregious.
I think you're arguing semantics
I would argue they clearly meant for the “egregious error” part to include clock mistakes that resulted in a game being incorrectly ruled over. Perhaps they should have use another word, such as “game-changing error” or “game-deciding error.” I don’t think they pulled up Webster’s dictionary when drafting the rule and said “what exactly is an ‘egregious error’.” The whole point in using a word like that was probably to include important errors that they may have missed.
Go back further in the game...
and you will see McCoy throw a couple other passes out of bounds, and the clock ticks off at least 1 additional second each time. Why should the end of the game be any different then the entire rest of the 59 minutes previous?
I just think this is a flaw in the system…the game is over and there were a few questionable calls, but as said above, 1 touchdown and this game is Nebraska’s.
I would have liked to see Texas suffer for a HORRIBLE playcall instead of calling a timeout…what were they thinking?
This is starting to get old....
i am a huge Husker fan and drove to dallas for the game. had a great time. Yeah I was as disapointed as anyone about the ending but when i got back to the Sheriden and watched sportsCenter I could see the right call was made. the clock on the field went to 0:00, but this is not the official time. How many times during almost every game does the official ask that the clock be adjusted? That is what happened in this case.
Husker fans are starting to get embarasing because they won’t quit complaning about this. Sorry we lost, Texas got some huge breaks from NU (kick out of bounds and horse collar) on the last drive but it was legit. NU BEAT NU not Texas or the officails.
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