Sign at the Toledo - Ball State game

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

So, I'm watching Toledo v. Ball State. Some time in the first half they showed a shot of a kid and his family in the crowd. They were all dressed in OSU gear, and the kid is holding up a sign that says:

GO ROCKETS

I'm sorry, but I can't wear blue and gold this week

GO BUCKEYES

They just did a locker room interview with Hawk and Woodson. Actually was pretty good. AJ went first talking about what a great rivalry it is and how awsome it is for college football. Woodson, in form dissimilar to Perry and Cato June, was quite complimentary to the meaning and tradition of the game as well. No inflammatory remarks from either.

 

[BB73]

So with about a minute ad a half to go, Ball State is near their own 20 and trying to protect a 3-point lead. Davis gets pressured from 2 guys, and goes all the way back to the goal line before heaving the ball past the line of scrimmage, out of bounds. He wasn't outside the tackle box, so the refs talk about it for a minute, and call intentional grounding in the end zone, a safety, making it 20-19 Ball State. The play gets reviewed, and it's obvious he threw the ball at or near the 1-yard line. It takes 5 minutes for the refs to get the replay decision from the booth. They say clear 'evidence' the spot was the 1-and-a-half yard line, so that's where they spot the ball, setting up 4th and 31.

But nobody - none of the 6 officials on the field, nobody in the replay booth, none of Toledo's coaches, and none of the 3 ESPN announcers (Saunders, Spielman, Craig James) thought to ask why they didn't mark off half the distance to the goal line for the grounding call. Unbelievable.

Perhaps the replay ref said "on the 1, spot it at the half-yard line" and the head referee misunderstood. At least they took the safety off the board, which could have decided the game. But how tough is it to mark off a grounding penalty after a replay review? 27 inches can make a difference when punting from inside the 1.

Toledo got the ball inside the 40 after a punt. They went for it on 4th and 3 from about the 31 with just under a minute left. A guy dropped a ball thrown right to him near the 20, which would have set up a FG, and they still would have had over 50 seconds to go for the win. But the drop gave the game to Ball State.