the national
- the Front Range
I will agree that I wasn’t as floored by the calls made here as I was in the Purdue game (that INT turned PI happened right in front of me in the stadium). But come crunch time, on that last drive, 3 critical mistakes occurred by this officiating crew that completely changed the outcome of this game. (The fumbled snap - which I thought he possessed with a knee down, the pick play and the PI call).I believe the rule is not just “in contact with the ground”, but rather “in possession and in contact with the ground”. If you watch the play, even in slow-Mo, he clearly doesn’t have possession when he is in contact with the ground and ball at the same time. The image is misleading.
I’ll probably get flack for this, but I thought the reffing was perfect for what the Illini needed. The biggest issue was the sudden call of PI that hadn’t been getting called all game. That 4th down play was also inexcusable. Unfortunately, those two calls were right at the end, and were at a critical part of the game. But overall, and taken as a whole, it was one of the least frustrated I’ve been at refs all season.
Watching the halftime of the Utah-Oregon game last night, they talked about the PI call. Their consensus was that it was a very weak call and should have been a no-call. Those were PAC12 guys so take it for what it’s worth.