UFR: A sloppy mess

Something weird happened on Illinois' first possession of the second half. Reilly O'Toole completed what looked like a 10-yard pass to A.J. Jenkins for what would have been close to an Illinois first down. But the Penn State players started celebrating and their offense took the field. The officials ruled the play an interception, though replays appeared to show a catch by Jenkins, who was down with possession before the ball was ripped away from him by Penn State's D'Anton Lynn. The replay official didn't feel the need to buzz down to review the play and Illinois coach Ron Zook didn't challenge the play or call timeout to give the booth more time to look it over. Inexcusable mistake by the coach, right? Not according to Zook. "They said that I couldn't review it, that it's a nonreviewable play," Zook said. "We all felt like he had it, and the guy told me when he was on the ground he was bobbling it and the other guy came up with it. He told me don't waste the challenge because you can't challenge it." That just doesn't seem right that a coach can't challenge that play. Maybe the officials goofed that one up. Maybe I'm just wrong.

Marcus Jackson