Virginia Tech running back Marcellous Mawkins was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on Saturday night. (Jon Fleming)
Welcome back, Hokies. I hope you all enjoyed watching the James Franklin era get underway in what I can only describe as an enjoyably uneventful manner. With little doubt remaining as to the outcome by the end of the first quarter, our focus is free to shift to more interesting matters. I am of course referring to the officiating. Let’s get to it.
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Not to cast an aspersion on our officiating crew BUT why did the review team not only rule on a review but instruct the referee how to enforce it? Once the reviewed call was upheld or overruled, I'd suggest the referee IN CHARGE should have that authority. I found it insulting to the referee.
I admit I wasn't impressed with what appeared to be a training crew for D1 football.
TechHokie13
By rule (pretty much all of Rule 12 and Officiating Standards section 16.5), the replay official has final authority on any matters decided by replay. I also hate it. Call me a traditionalist, but R should have the final say in all matters pertaining to the administration of a game, whether that's an on-field call or one made via replay.
bzbaker429
Your response to the Michigan game makes no sense. Neither clock shows tenths of a second. If the clocks are sync, then the broadcast clock should match the game clock or be slightly behind. It is completely obvious the officials completely screwed up the review or there is a conspiracy. If you can admit that, then reading any of your articles is completely pointless.
TechHokie13
Even if they aren't displayed, the tenths still count, and there's a decent chance they're rounded slightly differently.
Option 3: this is just a funky situation that nobody anticipated, because it is entirely dependent on a specific set of circumstances occurring to even be remotely possible. Specifically, the "resetting" of the game clock to 9 seconds, when it appears the stadium clock displayed 9, while said stadium clock was "actually" set to 8 seconds and change. That was the discrepancy.
SarahVTHokie24
Many thanks for your contributions to TSL. They are much appreciated.
TechHokie13
Thanks for reading! Likewise appreciated
HokieBrian
I guess the Miami game officials two years for the player out of bounds ends the play when touches the ball not when get 5-10 seconds to rip it loose. Michigan fans would have burnt Ann Arbor to the ground if roles were reversed. You can tell me rule also that without indisputable evidence the call stands except when VT is involved see Danny Coale catch and Miami game.
TechHokie13
Difference in the Miami game (this part made sense, even if neither the on-field call nor the replay decision did) was that the out-of-bounds player didn't directly touch the ball, and by rule, you can't "daisy chain" out-of-bounds player(s) together to make an in-bounds player out. So *that* part of the ruling was correct at least, even if the rest of it was bonkers from start to finish.
I still wish I could get confirmation on whether simultaneous possession was the initial call on the field, or was ever discussed as part of the review. Because that's the only reason I can begin to make sense of any of that.
Seikoh_04
Disagree on clock. Both teams intended on that being the final play of the game. Whether technically correct or not, it does not meet the spirit of any rule established for college football.
TechHokie13
You'll hear no argument from me that "correct by rule" doesn't 100% correlate with "best outcome given these specific circumstances."
A3genhokie
Man, Z. Clevland (21, Freshman safety) got burned on that pass play. Hope it was a teachable moment.
TechHokie13
We don't need to worry too much about that, right? Nah. Totally fine, not a concern 😅
HokieGator
I typically agree with all your points each week. I give officials the benefit of the doubt....especially in hindsight. This week I am going to disagree (except the hands to the face).
For the unsportsman like I originally gave the ref a pass assuming it was because he either high fived the cadets or didn't give the ball back to the official in a timely manner. That appears not to be the case as you showed in your videos. The second TD also involved high fives and holding the ball throughout his celebration. I get your reasoning...but to me that's iffy. I assume Franklin, in his long "discussion" with the officials, was given their reasoning for the flag...and then based on what he said post game he was under the impression it was for high fiving the fans. He didn't say anything about the celebration taking too long or involving too many dance moves or players. He specifically said it was for high fiving the cadets. So either he's wrong, was told wrongly, or is not being honest. Keep in mind this is coming from me, who is no fan of the ridiculous celebrations they get away with nowadays.
As for the one second, where does this clock exist...the one they showed us two hours after the game and only the replay crew had access to? Do we not also find it contradictory to release a statement where it says all clocks are synced before the game? And yet there was a special "official" clock that nobody could see? The TV clock showed zero a good tick or two before the touch happened...and I get that the TV could be a micro second off. The scoreboard also showed zero. Could you explain where this clock is kept. I'm not blaming the officials on this one....just like I don't blame them for the Miami fiasco or the Danny Coale catch. It's the league office's and replay crews that I question.
xhokiehurler19
I was listening to Joel Klatt’s podcast and he had Mike Pereira on. We said that from what he’s seen the actual final call by the replay review officials was correct based on their use of the “official clock”. However, he then went on to say that per guidance from the BIG/NCAA (not sure which), if there’s ever a discrepancy between the stadium/TV clock and the “official’ clock, they should always go with the stadium/TV clock to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Go with what everyone whatchi g sees vs. something in the background. He said the change should have never happened.
KenStuckInJersey
I'm not sure how any clock other than the one the players see can be official. Players speed up or slow down based on the time they see. They don't have a precise internal timer they are feeling that is synchronized elsewhere. They are looking at and changing their behavior according to the stadium clock in front of them. What if they had broken the huddle and either needed to or intentionally snapped the ball a fraction of a second after the stadium clock turned 1, and then are told the invisible, hidden "official" clock was a fraction ahead of the visible clock. Sorry, no play.
:(
How could that possibly be fair?
KenStuckInJersey
Asking the back judge. :)
vtgreg
This is the grounds on the formal complaint lodged by the MAC to the NCAA. The B1G didn't follow the procedure rules for replay according to what the MAC has stated.
HokieFanDC
Yep, Mike was clear that the protocol in place for any discrepancy between clocks, is to use the clock that everyone can see, not the clock that only a few people can see. In this case, the replay officials should have used the clock on the field.
It's ridiculous to try and use clocks other than what's on the field. The accuracy from the replay centers is silly. Nothing about the clocks are accurate, throughout the game. Refs aren't robots. They blow whistles early and late, multiple times throughout the game. They are slow, or quick to, place the ball, throughout the game. The replay officials blew it. Western Michigan should be the winner.
TechHokie13
Agreed 100%. Shoot, *most* of the precision we as fans have demanded from on-field and replay officials since the rise of HD broadcasts is pretty ridiculous. At power-conference game speed, that sort of precision just isn't realistic. Set the ball, blow the whistle, play the game. If you're splitting hairs at tenths of a second or fractions of a yard, you probably don't deserve to win the game (at least that's how my high school coach would put it).
TechHokie13
I tend to agree. The rule indicates that the official clock should be superimposed on the video during the review (which it was); I'd be shocked if there wasn't a rule update/clarification for 2027 to make gosh-darned-sure this situation never happens again.
TechHokie13
I wouldn't be shocked if there was a game of telephone involved in Franklin's understanding of the UNS call. Happens to me all the time.
Something I looked into later, was that the discrepancy in time apparently came a few moments earlier. R asked the clock operator to reset the game clock to 9 seconds following a spike, and the stadium/TV clock apparently read 9. The issue was that it was rounding from 8-seconds-and-change, and pretty much immediately ticked to 8 upon the next snap.
Ironically enough, I'm pretty sure the B1G uses such a system to avoid a "home cooking" situation (which I encounter *all the time* on Friday nights), where the home-stadium clock operator happens to start/stop the clock in a manner which happens to benefit the home team (in which case, everyone would be clamoring for an independent "official" game clock. Go figure). It just takes a very specific set of circumstances to cause a problem, as we saw here. There are two obvious fixes: either A) just make the stadium clock the "official" clock, or B) (as Andy pointed out on Talking With Teel today), add tenths to the game clock under a minute.
bklase2622
I really like this part of TSL Tristan. We as fans often scratch our heads at calls because we don't know or memorize the rule book. I am sure Coach Franklin will discuss this with the players. I remember past years when we were hitting players out of bounds and that has seemed to subside (fingers crossed).
HOKIEFROY
Deep down we all want the officials to get it right no matter who benefits.
TechHokie13
Glad you've enjoyed it so far, thanks for reading!
HokieByWater
Thanks for the insight!
TechHokie13
Thanks for reading!
hokieneallaw
Disagree. The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty WAS over the top. If they are looking at something like the "totality of the circumstances", that situation was pretty mild. Given you have the noise of 66,000 coming down on a kid scoring his first touchdown of the year, if not career, and a charged home team atmosphere, the kid's actions were born of excitement, and he didn't attempt to show anyone up in the slightest. Just a bone-headed call by the official.
TechHokie13
Eh, if you're cycling through individual/choreographed celebrations in the back of the end zone up 58 points.... c'mon, man. Save some for the next touchdown.
DADEC52
I'm sure you also know Danny Coale caught that ball so we're not inclined to agree with any official's call that favors Michigan or really any school that includes UM or MU!
DADEC52
Just UM as in U of Miami another evil beneficiary of those stripes!
TechHokie13
I've written a full article on the rule change which occurred following that Sugar Bowl. Not only was it a catch, it was *so much of a catch* that they clarified the rule so that nobody could ever again doubt that it was a catch.
DADEC52
Not really sure what I expected here. I enjoyed and honestly needed the explanations to clarify the officials reasons. I also noted that every explanation supported the officials' party line. Kind of reminded me that a policeman can always find a reason to pull you over. I'll be making it a point to read this column more regularly to educate my weak little mind, thanks!
TechHokie13
Much appreciated! I'll admit, I expected to be more critical of officiating decisions more often when I started this thing. What hubris on my part. Alas, reality has been upsettingly boring by and large (Miami '24 excepted, of course).
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