Duke FB Botched call

[aah555]

No, 23 penalties to 5 never makes sense and I take umbrage with many of them. In any event, good game. I am shocked you guys didn't just kick it out of bounds. Rosier doesn't even have the arm to throw it 50 yards.

There's a lot of "what if" about last night's game. After Michigan-Michigan State, FSU-Georgia Tech, and now this, it's just a crazy sport. GL

You take "umbrage"? lol. Miami's as undisciplined a DI team as I've seen in years; which is part of the reason why a team loaded with a lot of natural talent just got its coach fired. Every one of those PI calls were clear fouls by Miami. It really wasn't close at all. The fact that Miami's DBs don't know how to play press coverage without grabbing WRs / too undisciplined to play a zone -- isn't the fault of the refs.

And, honestly, whatever. I obviously would prefer Duke would win -- but, this is not even the sport most Duke fans care about. We're a basketball school that can play football toe-to-toe with what purports to be a football school.

 

[Dad2ze]

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They should be fired.

 

[Dad2ze]

You take "umbrage"? lol. Miami's as undisciplined a DI team as I've seen in years; which is part of the reason why a team loaded with a lot of natural talent just got its coach fired. Every one of those PI calls were clear fouls by Miami. It really wasn't close at all. The fact that Miami's DBs don't know how to play press coverage without grabbing WRs / too undisciplined to play a zone -- isn't the fault of the refs.

And, honestly, whatever. I obviously would prefer Duke would win -- but, this is not even the sport most Duke fans care about. We're a basketball school that can play football toe-to-toe with what purports to be a football school.

Agreed! Every single PI at the end of the game as very obvious. I guess what infuriates me the most is that they had a 12th man on the field the last 30 yds and the fact they went BACK to video review. Why? What could possibly change in what ypunsaenthe first time? Hope these officials never work another game again.

 

[skysdad]

The two game suspension is a joke and the outcome a fraud. It doesn't matter how bad Duke played and should have won the game anyway. It doesn't matter that the ball should have been kicked out of bounds. It doesn't matter that we should have scored early from the " line. It doesn't matter that we should have played better defense. This loss has knocked us out of a first place tie because of something bigger than an incompetent officiating crew. Something smells here. I will say this. I know an ACC football official who is just as big of an UNC fan as I am a Duke fan. I hope he didn't officiate this game. OFC

 

[DukeDenver]

The two game suspension is a joke and the outcome a fraud.

I don't understand the point of the suspension. Are these refs supposed to somehow gain better judgement and knowledge of the rules by sitting out 2 games? Is it supposed to be a punishment, so that other officials will think twice about giving games away? Neither of these lines of reason make sense.

Why not just fire these guys permanently for purposefully ignoring the rules? Does any team want these guys reffing their game after this? No. The more money in sports, the more often it's fixed. It doesn't pay to get too emotional about these games.

 

[Dad2ze]

I don't understand the point of the suspension. Are these refs supposed to somehow gain better judgement and knowledge of the rules by sitting out 2 games? Is it supposed to be a punishment, so that other officials will think twice about giving games away? Neither of these lines of reason make sense.

Why not just fire these guys permanently for purposefully ignoring the rules? Does any team want these guys reffing their game after this? No. The more money in sports, the more often it's fixed. It doesn't pay to get too emotional about these games.

A suspension is nothing. If you fire them that should show the other dirty refs that this is a serious matter.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I don't understand the point of the suspension. Are these refs supposed to somehow gain better judgement and knowledge of the rules by sitting out 2 games? Is it supposed to be a punishment, so that other officials will think twice about giving games away? Neither of these lines of reason make sense.

Why not just fire these guys permanently for purposefully ignoring the rules? Does any team want these guys reffing their game after this? No. The more money in sports, the more often it's fixed. It doesn't pay to get too emotional about these games.

Well, the main thing about the suspension is that you've been put on notice, and that future screw-ups could result in much harsher penalties. I think it's fair, because anyone can make a mistake (even if us fans don't think so). And when you've got multiple refs (with different opinions going on), it can probably get hectic trying to get the right call. Still, bad job performance should have consequences.

OFC

 

[HuffyJB]

The late PI calls on Duke's final drive were blatant. They were no-brainers, which from the look of things now, suits that crew perfectly.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Oh, and on a side note that play lasted 49 seconds! Most plays probably last less than 10 seconds. Any play lasting such a ridiculous amount of time would probably have multiple penalties with players crisscrossing the field time and time again. It wouldn't be a bad idea to limit the amount of laterals involved on one play imo.

OFC

 

[twdukefan]

Oh, and on a side note that play lasted 49 seconds! Most plays probably last less than 10 seconds. Any play lasting such a ridiculous amount of time would probably have multiple penalties with players crisscrossing the field time and time again. It wouldn't be a bad idea to limit the amount of laterals involved on one play imo.

OFC

I think guys can keep tossing laterals, but it just takes a competent ref crew to spot penalties. The fact that we have replay in this day and age and these buffoons still couldn't get the call right means one of two things: 1. They suck 2. They had ulterior motives for having Miami pull it out

 

[LetsGoDuke301]

That game was unreal at the end. Game was all but over, then Duke made a great comeback to take the lead. I feel like they were cheated out of the win, but they also had some breaks go their way and they were in great position to win the game. I feel like the refs simply just didn't have the balls to take the touchdown away from Miami despite the multiple reasons to.

 

[pisgah101]

ACC should just declare us the winner... If they wanna make it right and all or null it all together and not count it

 

[aah555]

ACC should just declare us the winner... If they wanna make it right and all or null it all together and not count it

It's not going to happen -- but this is the one case where it really wouldn't be unfair to declare us the winner; as the game should have been completely over when the Miami player's knee hit the field.

 

[DevilDJ]

 

[DevilDJ]

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

I think guys can keep tossing laterals, but it just takes a competent ref crew to spot penalties. The fact that we have replay in this day and age and these buffoons still couldn't get the call right means one of two things: 1. They suck 2. They had ulterior motives for having Miami pull it out

That's just a lot of time (49 seconds) for a crew to stay sharp and spot penalties. The instant replay is great, but the problem is that if a play is really close it may not get overturned. Unfortunately, bad calls are just a part of sports.
I'll agree with you about the incompetency...there is too much of that involved.

OFC

 

[Dattier]

The refs on the field correctly let the play continue if they thought the knee was close (it was). Call it dead incorrectly and the result is much worse than letting it continue incorrectly. The replay was the right place to address that, and that was pretty badly botched.

Everything else is secondary, trumped up to add to the replay official's error. It's no big deal to miss a penalty. It happens. Picking up the flag was the right call, too; that they didn't follow the right protocol to do so isn't that big of a deal in and of itself. And the fourth one had no bearing on the play, which was the end of the game, so it is pretty nitpicky to worry about that.

If the replay official gets the call on the knee right, none of the other stuff matters. If the replay had revealed that the lateral did get off in time, none of the other stuff matters then, either.

There's a pretty strong case to be made that only the replay official should be suspended. Suspending the whole crew is a bit of a "scorch the earth" response making an example of all of them b/c the call was so badly missed and had such a huge impact on the outcome of the entire game.

 

[aah555]

The refs on the field correctly let the play continue if they thought the knee was close (it was). Call it dead incorrectly and the result is much worse than letting it continue incorrectly. The replay was the right place to address that, and that was pretty badly botched.

Everything else is secondary, trumped up to add to the replay official's error. It's no big deal to miss a penalty. It happens. Picking up the flag was the right call, too; that they didn't follow the right protocol to do so isn't that big of a deal in and of itself. And the fourth one had no bearing on the play, which was the end of the game, so it is pretty nitpicky to worry about that.

If the replay official gets the call on the knee right, none of the other stuff matters. If the replay had revealed that the lateral did get off in time, none of the other stuff matters then, either.

There's a pretty strong case to be made that only the replay official should be suspended. Suspending the whole crew is a bit of a "scorch the earth" response making an example of all of them b/c the call was so badly missed and had such a huge impact on the outcome of the entire game.

I disagree. While it's indisputable that the replay official made a mistake, that doesn't excuse the refs from missing at least one very flagrant block in the back (and really two-three that could have been called) on a defender who was in position to make a play on the ball. Unlike some plays where the illegal block happens far away from the play and could arguably be excused, the one most glaring one happened right in front of the ball carrier and could be seen by everyone on the field. Everyone saw it in real time. It's inexplicable that nothing was called on that play.

Then combine that with the fact that the refs inexplicably reversed themselves on the second block in the back under suspicious circumstances more than 9-10 minutes after their initial call was made. While they're obviously denying it, reality is that those refs were standing in the stadium looking at the scoreboard for 9-10 minutes as it showed replays -- and clearly probably came to realize that they had screwed up that one call on Duke's side of the field and reversed it without the help of "replay." I mean, what's crazy is not only that they never announced that they were picking up the flag, but that they didn't tell Cutcliffe that they were picking up the flag -- which suggests to me that they made that decision many minutes after the play had been completed. That's not how the process works. If you screw up a call, you don't get to fix it 7 minutes later after seeing your mistake blasted on the jumbo tron over and over again. I think the refs panicked b/c they realized the possibility that they may cost Miami the game over a bogus block in the back call.

 

[Dattier]

Fair enough.

 

[denniden]

What about the fact that Miami had 23 penalties for 194 yards and Duke only had 5 penalties for 41 yards?

That last Duke drive for a TD was aided by 3 PI calls. If anything, Duke clearly was the beneficiary of bad officiating. That picture of Walton "down" with the ball in his hand? The ball looks like it's touching his hand, but already starting to come out. If so, it's a fumble. And a guy running onto the field (helmet or not) would be a dead ball foul, regardless.

The officiating was trash all night. You guys are ignoring the rest of the game and focusing on the crazy finish. Again, 23 penalties to 5.

Miami is a horribly disciplined team They commit a lot of penalties. Saturday was not different. Did you see the pass interference penalties on the last drive? They were legit. Did you forget a supposed fumble earlier in the game where MaCaffrey was clearly on the ground when the ball came out that gave the ball to Miami? The officiating was not great for sure, but when they have replay as a tool to get it right and then they fail as miserably as they did......

An entire officiating crew and replay officials were suspended for two games because they blew it Saturday. That is how poorly that last play was handled and how wrong it was. Enjoy the gift because that is what Miami got, and even as a Miami fan I am sure you can see that as well.

Anyone with two eyes can see Walton was down with the ball clearly in his hand and controlled. Game over right there.

 

[Bludvls1]

 

[Mark Gastineau]

It's going to take me a while to get over that ending. Such a travesty.

 

[Bludvls1]

Miami ranks #128 in the nation in penalties per game. They average over 10 per game. Duke is 30. They average about 5 per game. Miami was gassed on that final Duke drive. They had to commit those PI penalties or they get burned. You cant run and bang on a receiver 30 yards down field. You cant use one had to wrap around smoeones waist and hold while reaching around with the other. Thats called EVERY time.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Miami was gassed on that final Duke drive.

They were gassed the entire game. How many "injuries" were there when one of their players couldn't handle our tempo? Honestly, it felt like every other play when we were on offense.

 

[denniden]

Mark, they played possum all game on defense. They actually did far more than any team I can remember in pro or college football. They also drew a few calls on not being able to sub in time. Miami was gifted this one and as a Duke fan it hurts. Such is life though. Sometimes you get screwed.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

Holy crap...look at this article I found (and linked). They've already got out a t-shirt commemorating the theft. That takes some balls!

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...shirts-commemorating-8-lateral-td-to-top-duke

Here's the t-shirt. I might have to come up with one of my own.

 

[OldasdirtDevil]

That whole play, and replay was f***ed up beyond all recognition. And this is a more appropriate t-shirt for the Miami crowd.

OFC

 

[skysdad]

I disagree. While it's indisputable that the replay official made a mistake, that doesn't excuse the refs from missing at least one very flagrant block in the back (and really two-three that could have been called) on a defender who was in position to make a play on the ball. Unlike some plays where the illegal block happens far away from the play and could arguably be excused, the one most glaring one happened right in front of the ball carrier and could be seen by everyone on the field. Everyone saw it in real time. It's inexplicable that nothing was called on that play.

Then combine that with the fact that the refs inexplicably reversed themselves on the second block in the back under suspicious circumstances more than 9-10 minutes after their initial call was made. While they're obviously denying it, reality is that those refs were standing in the stadium looking at the scoreboard for 9-10 minutes as it showed replays -- and clearly probably came to realize that they had screwed up that one call on Duke's side of the field and reversed it without the help of "replay." I mean, what's crazy is not only that they never announced that they were picking up the flag, but that they didn't tell Cutcliffe that they were picking up the flag -- which suggests to me that they made that decision many minutes after the play had been completed. That's not how the process works. If you screw up a call, you don't get to fix it 7 minutes later after seeing your mistake blasted on the jumbo tron over and over again. I think the refs panicked b/c they realized the possibility that they may cost Miami the game over a bogus block in the back call.

The refs are human and make mistakes but that is not really the issue. The issue is having the proof that mistakes were made and not using that to make things right. They had every opportunity to make the correction and refused to do it. The two game suspension was light IMO. OFC

 

[Mark Gastineau]

How convenient:

https://miami.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1819423

Scott said of people thinking Duke got robbed that "I'm not going to respond to that stuff. At the end of the day it's a win for our kids, a win for our program, a much needed win. We got back to Miami and we're on to UVA. That's where I am with that, where our kids' mindset is going to be, where we are with the program. We're going to keep moving forward, can't get caught up in what happened in the past."

Kudos on the tainted win your undisciplined team did not deserve.

 

[Dad2ze]

How convenient:

https://miami.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1819423

Scott said of people thinking Duke got robbed that "I'm not going to respond to that stuff. At the end of the day it's a win for our kids, a win for our program, a much needed win. We got back to Miami and we're on to UVA. That's where I am with that, where our kids' mindset is going to be, where we are with the program. We're going to keep moving forward, can't get caught up in what happened in the past."

Kudos on the tainted win your undisciplined team did not deserve.

Typical Miami mindset. I would expect nothing less from their classless program.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Typical Miami mindset. I would expect nothing less from their classless program.

He probably fell down with an "injury" right after he gave that comment.

 

[DevilDJ]

Missed calls DO happen but rarely when they're as egregious as the ones missed. Geez Louise , that first block in the back was right in front of the player with the damn ball. The Duke defender got hit so hard he looked like he was shot outta a cannon. Not sayin' the refs intentionally "missed" that but.... Also , as stated , the play's dead at that point with UM ball at their 8. And running onto the field ( sans helmet even! ) isn't "nitpicky." Jus' sayin.' BTW , great 'chop by OADD as usual. So there.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Not sayin' the refs intentionally "missed" that but....

Nothing to me is more egregious than the knee being down . . . right in front of a referee. Just horrendous.

 

[youngman42]

Perhaps more frustrating than the knee - they apparently threw a flag on an illegal block and then picked it up after looking at it on replay; something which is not reviewable. That's egregious.

And, of course, they completely missed a Miami player a) running onto the field while the play was still going on; b) with his helmet off (that's two penalties) - all before the Miami player crossed the goal line. Penalty is a penalty.

There were so many blatant and appalling officiating errors on that single play it's unconscionable. It really is unbelievable that they got away with this.

 

[DevilDJ]

something which is not reviewable. That's egregious.

http://www.streakingthelawn.com/201...officials-botched-the-ending-of-miami-at-duke

 

[youngman42]

Michael Wilbon (dead on right, imho):

"The ACC is an embarrassment every Day it exists until they address this in the proper manner and they can't do it."

 

[jydevil]

You take "umbrage"? lol. Miami's as undisciplined a DI team as I've seen in years; which is part of the reason why a team loaded with a lot of natural talent just got its coach fired. Every one of those PI calls were clear fouls by Miami. It really wasn't close at all. The fact that Miami's DBs don't know how to play press coverage without grabbing WRs / too undisciplined to play a zone -- isn't the fault of the refs.

And, honestly, whatever. I obviously would prefer Duke would win -- but, this is not even the sport most Duke fans care about. We're a basketball school that can play football toe-to-toe with what purports to be a football school.

DON T EVEN GO THERE.......NOT EVEN CLOSE....IF THIS IS YOUR BET...THEN GO AWAYYYYYYYY

 

[Laettner]

Holy crap...look at this article I found (and linked). They've already got out a t-shirt commemorating the theft. That takes some balls!

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...shirts-commemorating-8-lateral-td-to-top-duke

Here's the t-shirt. I might have to come up with one of my own.

Sales of this shirt have been discontinued due to Miami having no fans to purchase. Canes celebration was embarrassing, shows how far they've fallen. Imagine our hoops program becoming as irrelevant as UM football currently is.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

I wish to express my disappointment with statements that question the legitimacy of our victory

Wow.