If I remember right, he was well past the first down marker.
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I thought the Instant replay ref's messed up a couple of tines in the Nova-App st. game also. In a couple of cases there, they wouldn,t reverse the call on the field?...Our biggest gift was when EWU's reciever dropped a sure TD that would of put us down 21-3....I agree, never should have went into overtime though...Damn the prevent defense!
I'm still trying to see a clear replay. Everything I've seen so far is from the webcasts and too small to see on my computer screen. When I saw the one replay during the espn3 live broadcast I thought he was down but wasn't sure if the ball was coming loose as he was throwing his arms forward. They didn't show another one after I saw that. I'm guessing the replay official saw the same thing and that doubt may have caused him to uphold the ruling on the field.
If the Referee announces "the ruling on the field stands" that means the replay official didn't see enough evidence to overturn the call on the field. If he would have said "the ruling on the field is confirmed" that means the replay official felt the officials on the field definitely got it right.
Still pictures are worthless on a play like this because you can't tell what kind of control the runner has on the ball. Same with the catch near the sideline. I wasn't watching yet when that play happened so I haven't seen it yet.
The Bison may have been on the wrong end of a couple very close judgment calls (we were probably on the right end of a couple as well but as fans we don't notice or remember those...for example I thought I saw a hold on Siger's KO return), but these were not horrible officiating errors. They were very tough close calls. I bet I could show good video of this to a group of officials (who have no vested interest in the outcome or knowledge of what was ruled) and there would probably not be a 100% consensus.
As fans, feel free to criticise a call like this. It's a close judgment call that could have gone either way and both teams would have felt cheated based on the decision. That's what makes us fans. I'm glad to see most of us still praising the Bison for their incredible season and realize this isn't the only reason we lost the game. The future is very bright!!
Not over turning those replay's were not judgement calls, they were plain as day.
- On the catch replay you could even see the ball even bounce unevenly off the turf.
- On the fumble elbow (at least) down.