Watching most of this game live, I had the thought at one point that I was unlikely to have much to cover on this one. As the TSL crew discussed on the podcast on Monday, this was a pretty boring game, all told.
Happily for me, the ratio of officiating shenanigans to game excitement was off the charts on Saturday. But first, let’s take a look back at last week’s You Make the Call, once more getting in to the head of an ACC replay official late in a Miami Hurricanes game.
When a Team A player is holding the ball to pass it forward toward the neutral zone, any intentional forward movement of the passer’s hand with the ball firmly in their control starts the forward pass unless the player clearly starts to bring the ball back with firm control to the passer’s body. If a Team B player contacts the passer or ball after forward movement begins and the ball leaves the passer’s hand, a forward pass is ruled regardless of where the ball strikes the ground or a player. (2-19-2b)
Much like with simultaneous possession, for example, the key here is that the instant a passer begins to bring his arm forward with control of the ball, it’s a forward pass. There is no time or distance element required. Shoot, in practice, one could argue that stopping the backwards motion counts just as much as beginning the forward motion.So what did TSL Subscribers have to say about this one? Well, 64% agreed with the call on the field, while 34% ruled it a fumble (side note: I’m slipping a bit on these; I was unreasonably proud of myself for a little run I had earlier of plays that were much closer to 50/50, so I’m gonna have to up my game).
I have to admit that the video even at 1080p his hands and his grip never really looked all that clear in any angle even going frame by frame, so I’d be in the “call stands” camp. That said, at 47 seconds and perhaps others it seems like he still has control, but I guess I’d be quibbling over how firm “firmly” is. - jmanatVT
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