The Mid-American Conference and Big 12 are not saving face by suspending the referee crew and video replay officials who worked Oklahoma State’s controversial loss at home against Central Michigan last week.
It’s too late for that. Knowing the outcome cannot be reversed, they are doing what they believe is the next best thing although it is more of a detriment than anything. The Big 12 video replay officials working the game are suspended for the next two weeks and are banned from working in a bowl game. The MAC referee crew must sit out the next two weeks.
Will their replacements be any better? Where were the guys who will fill in last week? At home? Working a lower-division game? Suspending the crew does not necessarily make the officiating better. If anything, it’s the opposite.
This all stems from the refs allowing Central Michigan an untimed play at midfield after Oklahoma State was flagged for intentional grounding on fourth down while trying to run off the last four seconds. The Chippewas scored on a long “Hail Mary” pass play and a lateral to win the game 30-27.
Extending the game after a loss-of-down penalty is an egregious error that should have been corrected by the replay officials. It was a colossal failure of administering the rules these officials should know. But as with anything in life, the page must be turned and all involved should just move on with the attempt to get better.
We’ve been through this before and we’ll likely go through it again.
Remember the Duke-Maryland game last year? The ACC suspended the on-field referee crew and two replay officials for two games after allowing Miami a touchdown on a series of laterals, one of which happened when a player’s knee was down, in the Hurricanes’ 30-27 “win” over the Blue Devils.
The Pac-12 suspended a line judge for a game last season after allowing Washington State to replay a fourth down after a referee blew his whistle before the previous fourth-down play stopped. By rule, the play should have stopped with the referee’s whistle after forward progress was stopped. Washington State was afforded another chance against Arizona State and the Cougars scored on the next play in a 38-24 win.
Had the first fourth-down play stood, as it should have, Arizona State would have gained possession with a 14-3 lead in the second quarter.
The suspension of a whole referee crew is done as a public relations maneuver. The penalty levied on one referee, as was the case in the ASU-Washington State game, is more appropriate. Still, the admission of guilt only goes so far. Suspensions carry little weight unless the outcome of a game is reversed, and the NCAA is not about to do that.
What should happen: The referees and video replay crew that worked the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State game should continue to work this week but with a negative score from that game. A negative score would adversely affect their opportunity for substantial games as the year goes on and their chance to work bowl games.
Conferences grade their officials weekly after reviewing game film. Each down and call is broken down by the coordinator of officials and corresponding staff. The crews who grade the highest generally move on to higher-profile games as the season progresses. Those who grade lower get the less substantial games.
Coaching staffs are routinely graded by athletic directors and department personnel. Never has a coaching staff been suspended for two weeks for making bad play calls that adversely affected the outcome of a game.
Some discussion has evolved about creating a national officiating review board rather than leaving the grading to each conference. That will not help matters because at least the conferences are more in tune with their own officials. When it comes to grading officials, the more regionalized the scrutiny the better.
Another issue to come of this situation for Oklahoma State, which was ranked No. 22 when it played Central Michigan: How does this affect the Cowboys’ postseason outlook with a loss they should not have?
If the Cowboys are fortunate to be in the College Football Playoff picture, then the humans – not computers – on the selection committee know of what happened in the game against Central Michigan. They won’t be blind to the wrong outcome. That should ease some of the concern if Mike Gundy’s team is good enough in the end to be discussed by the selection committee.
As it is, a close game at home against a non-Power 5 opponent should cause concern for Gundy and the Cowboys. Although they admittedly underperformed against the Chippewas, Oklahoma State gets another opportunity to correct things when it plays this week against a visiting Pitt team that is 2-0.
Meanwhile, the officiating crew and video replay officials from last week’s game must sit at home, prevented from working toward improvement similar to what Gundy and his staff are allowed to do.
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