Let’s admit it. Officiating mistakes are a common occurrence. They are human and make errors just like off of us. However what happened Saturday in Syracuse to the Toldeo Rockets should have more of an after-effect than it has through the college football world.
In case you missed it, and it’s possible you did, Toledo was beaten by Syracuse 33-30 in OT Saturday. However the Officials AND the review booth did something that isn’t supposed to happen. They cost the Rockets a win by mistakenly calling an Extra point by Syracuse good when it was obviously not. It would have given Syracuse a 29-27 lead instead of 30-27. A last second field goal by Toledo would have then won the game instead of tied it. Thus OT wouldn’t have been needed.
Monday morning Toledo athletic director Mike O’Brien announced he has asked the Mid-American Conference commissioner to request that the Big East give Toledo the victory. Something that probably will not happen, however the Big East opened the door Saturday.
Big East coordinator of officials Terry McAulay has said replay officials made the wrong call. On Saturday the conference issued an apology to the Rockets and went on their merry way.
In this life one must realize that an apology doesn’t cure everything. This is one of those times. And one has to wonder just how many people around McAulay were laughing and giggling while issuing the apology release.
The extra point hugged the left upright, but crossed in front of the upright. It was ruled good by the officials. Toledo coach Tim Beckman immediately challenged the ruling on the field.
A TV replay clearly showed the ball was missed to the left. The replay showed the kick was no good as it crossed in front of the bar. Replay officials in the booth apparently never saw the replay from the telecast, and ruled the kick was good. So how could a replay official make a ruling on something he couldn’t see?
McAulay issued a statement saying replay officials made a mistake and did not review the proper angles, only looking at sideline angles. Face it guys, your should still be able to see the upright disappear behind the ball as the ball crosses in front of it from the sideline view. This game really stunk of evil enterprises being involved.
Of course this was only a game between Toledo and Syracuse. Two schools that have no chance of ever playing for a BCS Championship, so this controversial ending will die without fanfare. However imagine if this had happened during the November 5th meeting between LSU and Alabama. Officials would be fired, the National Guard called out and Obama and Congress would be called in to investigate.
The same should happen for this game. It will not happen but the Big East should show the righteousness it tries to emulate and grant Toledo the win. That is the right thing to do.
The next right thing to do is to question the officials under the crossbar judging the kick, and then the review official. The system is set up to get calls right and this system failed.
Because of Human error.
