Ask A Back Judge: Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion

Tristan Raisch

September 15, 2026 27

How did the officials perform in Saturday's Virginia Tech-Old Dominion game? (Jon Fleming)

Well that was a heck of a lot more enjoyable than last year’s edition, wasn’t it? Sure makes snagging game clips much less painful when the Hokies play the part of the belt rather than the backside against ODU. Since Chris, Will, Andy, and the rest of the crew have you covered on analysis of the team’s performance, we can get into the really good stuff here: the officiating.

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27 Comments

bonedoc September 15, 2026 at 2:41 PM

Good work explaining a few officiating questions I had from last Saturday. Please keep this column going.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 2:49 PM
  
  From your lips to Will's ears 😄 Thanks for reading!
133600Hokie September 15, 2026 at 12:34 PM

Glad you are doing this weekly again. Your articles clear up a lot of questions about why calls are made that we arm chair officals get wrong.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 12:48 PM
  
  Me too! I maaaaaay have gotten a bit carried away with the holding article in particular last year, leading Chris to agree that he would prefer taking smaller bites when it comes to editing my work 😅 I also prefer this format - I've found going through several plays with a paragraph or two of rules/mechanics talk is much more engaging (and I hope interesting to read) than going into ultra detail on one play or trying to cover a single topic with a big monthly article.
2. SaintJoeHokie September 15, 2026 at 1:35 PM
  
  I also like this feature that proves me wrong on a regular basis
  1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 4:24 PM
    
    😂 I'm sure many would contend that "prove" is a strong word, but I hope I've at least given you something to think about. Thanks for reading!
VTScanlo September 15, 2026 at 12:11 PM

Any idea as to the background/justification of the "exception" in the case of the grounding rule? It's a very specific rule, so I'm guessing there's a logical reason for it. I just can't think what that would be.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 12:19 PM
  
  To account for this exact situation, as a matter of fact. And jet sweep/reverse passes from wideouts. It's pretty unfair for a WR to be able to ground the ball if the defense is ready for a trick play like that and blows it up in the backfield. So the offense gets to choose: do you want to be able to legally ground the ball to avoid a sack, or do you want to take your chances with a negative play to try to catch the defense napping?
  1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 12:21 PM
    
    Also, there would be nothing stopping a RB from just chucking the ball away on a sweep or something if the defense was about to force a TFL. So that exception (to the exception) keeps things a bit more balanced by only allowing legal grounding during an "actual" passing play.
StressHokie September 15, 2026 at 11:07 AM

Thanks Ref! I learn something new each week.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 11:40 AM
  
  'Tis the idea 😉 Thanks for reading!
HokieEngineer22 September 15, 2026 at 10:23 AM

Appreciate the clarification on the RTK call. Was bewildering to me in the stadium how that wasn’t a penalty, but it’s clear from the video they got it right.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:25 AM
  
  Glad I wasn't the only one bewildered in real time 😄 Thanks for reading!
HokieByWater September 15, 2026 at 10:19 AM

Good stuff as always! Thank you!
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:23 AM
  
  Much appreciated!
RWLHokie September 15, 2026 at 10:06 AM

Great explanations however there was one other Roughing the kicker penalty earlier in the game that was not called. Can you explain that one? Also on the double pass, it appeared the knee never touched the ground. Did you see it otherwise? Really enjoy these articles!
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:12 AM
  
  Full dusclosure: my recording only started towards the end of the 1st quarter (thanks, CW/Hulu), so I couldn't find video of that one. If I find a shot of it at some point, I'll chime in.
2. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:23 AM
  
  I thought Denmark's knee was clearly down when he caught it, and I'm a bit surprised they didn't blow it dead right there. The administration of that sequence was certainly more than a bit clunky, but it was the correct call.
3. 134140Hokie September 15, 2026 at 12:37 PM
  
  The other kicker contact was on John Love after the touchdown prior to the scenario with punter contact I believe. I remember thinking "Are they not calling any kicker contact anymore?"
  1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 12:44 PM
    
    Answered this one on the boards (if it's the same one - I did my best to check for contact on every PAT), but the CW just didn't give us a clear look or a replay of it. The announcer said Love got "drilled," but I'm skeptical of that assessment at face value after listening to his take on other officiating matters throughout the game. That said, you generally have to see pretty forcible contact that puts the kicker in danger of injury to draw a flag. A lot of kickers try to sell it any time a defender ends up near their feet, but if he's down and stable, that's unlikely to be called. Again, purely speculating because I couldn't see the contact on camera at all.
Hokie2Architect September 15, 2026 at 10:03 AM

Thanks. Definitely cleared some things up for me that I thought otherwise watching it live in the stands.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:16 AM
  
  Thanks for reading, glad it was helpful!
GO_HOKIES_GO September 15, 2026 at 9:59 AM

Great article - I didn’t know there was an exception to the rule that allows the passer to throw the ball away. As for the roughing the kicker call, I don’t think Saint Germain owes punter Nathan Totten an apology - the ODU player (McLilley-Bulo) is blocked but the force of the block/shove should have taken him away from the punter. McLilley-Bulo plants his foot, changes direction, and runs into Totten. This might have been hard to see in real-time, but the replay booth should have seen it in super slow-motion. Keep up the good work and I hope your new job as R goes well.
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:16 AM
  
  To my eye, it's a pretty clear shove in the general direction of the punter (and there's I'm sure some nifty physics going on with players changing direction and such). It's worth noting that just about *any* contact that could be considered a block will take RTK off the table. There is virtually no wiggle room on that, it's pretty black and white. I think that's probably correct. As much as I could see a case for prioritizing the punters safety, the alternative is incentivizing savvy blockers to put their punter at greater risk in the hope of a cheap first down.
2. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:24 AM
  
  And I'm still mostly handling line judge or back judge duties, but I've got a couple more R assignments on the schedule so far. Thanks!
TomTurkey September 15, 2026 at 9:56 AM

Looking for an informed season. Thanks
1. TechHokie13 September 15, 2026 at 10:16 AM
  
  Thanks for reading!

Ask A Back Judge: Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion

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