In basketball, when a last-second shot during the end of a quarter or half is made and officials aren’t sure if the play clock or shot clock had expired before the ball left the shooter’s hands, the referees will review the play.
If the player got the shot off in time, the basket counts. If he didn’t, the basket doesn’t count. It’s pretty cut and dry.
With that in mind, why can’t the clock be reviewed during a football game too?
Take what happened in the Notre Dame-Michigan State game this past Saturday for example. The Spartans lined up for what would have been a game-tying field goal in overtime but instead, they faked the field goal and Aaron Bates wound up throwing a 29-yard touchdown to Charlie Gantt to win the game.
The problem is that the play clock had already hit double zero before MSU got the play off, which therefore should have resulted in a delay of game penalty. But the play stood and now Irish fans are rightfully screaming shenanigans.
It was a Big East crew working the game that night and since the play occurred, the conference has released this statement:
“The responsibility is assigned to the Back Judge, who in this situation was standing beneath the upright. Proper mechanics dictate that his focus be directed to the play clock as it approaches zero. When the play clock display reads zero, he must re-direct his attention to the ball. At that time, if the snap has not started, a flag will be thrown for delay of game. If the snap has begun, no flag will be thrown.
“Under these procedures, there will always be a small amount of lag time between the time the clock reads zero and the time the Back Judge is able to see the football.
“On the play in question, this lag time created the situation where it appears the play clock expired just before the snap. We believe the snap occurred well within the normal lag time for the Back Judge to make this determination.
In essence, the Big East defended the no-call and by rule, it appears that the play should have stood.
But again, why wasn’t the play reviewable? I understand that the NCAA (or NFL for that matter) doesn’t want to slow the game anymore by reviewing every single play that comes close to being a delay of game penalty, but they don’t have to. All reviews are done by officials in overtime, so why couldn’t the refs go under the hood before awarding MSU a game-winning touchdown? A touchdown that also cost Brian Kelly’s team a potential victory?
Maybe the call would have stood anyway under the rules, but it should have at least been reviewed. If plays that are affected by the clock can be reviewed in basketball, I don’t see why they can’t also be reviewed in football.
