on SECOND thought

Officials think they called it right
BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

It turns out that one second can generate hours of conversation.

You couldn’t avoid the topic in Nebraska on Sunday. At church. At the grocery store. It was the discussion between bites of steak and passing the biscuits.

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Saturday night’s Big 12 Championship. The officials used replay to place one second back on a clock that had hit zeroes after a Texas incompletion. The Longhorns kicked a 46-yard field goal on the next play to win 13-12.



Husker fans immediately began Google searches using the words “NCAA rulebook.”

Most wouldn’t argue that Colt McCoy’s pass appeared to land out of bounds with one second still showing on the clock. But some have wondered: Was it a reviewable play?

In the Big 12 rules, the only time it’s stated that the game clock can be adjusted by replay is when a ruling on the field is reversed.

“No other plays or officiating decisions are reviewable,” it later states in the Big 12 replay rules.

Another point some have raised is the human element that goes with officiating sports. Football games are not governed with precision on every play. On most every incompletion, the clock does not stop immediately as the ball hits the ground. Should the strictness with which we watch the clock be different in the fourth quarter than the second?

All that said, the Big 12’s coordinator of officials is sure the crew got it right.

Walt Anderson’s sure of that because of Rule 12:3, which he cited after the game.

Article 6 of that rule states that “the replay official may correct egregious errors, including those involving the game clock, whether or not a play is reviewable.”

“It’s really for these type of events that happen that you want to be sure that an error of judgment doesn’t end up being made on the field that is really a matter of fact,” Anderson said.

Anderson said officials were immediately paged by the those in the booth, who superimposed the clock while following the flight of the ball. It was obvious to Anderson a second remained when the ball appeared to hit a railing on a ground-level luxury suite. The ball has to hit something for the clock to stop.

Husker coach Bo Pelini offered “no comment” when asked about the restored second, but certainly that call carried the conversation when he met briefly with Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe just moments after the game.

This article isn't lying about the amount of conversation this is generating in Nebraska. I was trying my best to accept the loss folr what it was as I slumped in my seat at Chili's Sunday and tried to finish my beer. But the conspiracy theory rumors were circulating on the message boards so I asked my secretary/mom to paw through the NCAA rules on reviews and she found the same quote that a play must be reversed to change the clock. That's when I started to give creedence to what may have been the biggest cheat since the Montreal Screwjob.

I'm not going to refute that there was a second left after the incompletion. After years of me clucking the Ryan Leaf still has three seconds left in his college career, it would sound disingenuous for me to say the clock ran out before the ball hit. But the issue at hand is whether the play should have been reviewed. The answer is no. And the rule 12:3 is BS. Walt Anderson pulling that out of his ass sounds a little like Dean Wormer telling Greg Marmalard that the Deltas were on double secret probation.

My guess is the replay official was told to put one second on by someone in an authority position at the Big 12. Its easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission and when Anderson found 12:3 shortly after the game he could back up the decision. I know I sound like a spoiled sport here but with the TCU/Boise Fiesta Bowl, the bad calls going Bama and Florida's way this season and tone of opinion about the BCS in general, I don't think I'm the only one who is starting the see the big picture. I think this guy puts it better than I ever could.

But since Texas coach Mack Brown wanted a second placed back on the clock, and because the Big 12 wanted to have a second placed back on the clock, and because all of the six major BCS conferences HAD TO HAVE a second placed back on the clock, and because the referees figured they might never have a chance to work for the league ever again if they do this wrong ... it was like that.

So, unlike every other similar play in the game, the officials overruled the clock and put 0:01 back up on the scoreboard, and Texas ran the field-goal team out there and Hunter Lawrence kicked it through.

It all adds up to being pretty fishy. So the next time a Nebraska fans posts that the Big 12's business is propping up Texas and OU and that Nebraska should bolt for the Big Ten, I'll be reluctant to tell him how wrong he is.