Are these SEC officials?

I waited almost 24 hours before commenting on the officiating in the WVU-Cincinnati game. Funny thing, my opinion hasn't changed. Maybe the Bearcats still win, but when the replay officical overturned this fumble recovery by the Mountaineers and called it a TD for Cincy the momentum shifted back to UC.

Maybe the ball does cross the goal line, but there is not enough evidence to overturn the call. In fact, I'd argue that Isaiah Pead is losing control of the ball as he tries to extend it over the goal line. Therefore the WVU fumble recovery should have held.

This doesn't erase the fact WVU still plays horrible special teams and there were some questionable calls in the fourth quarter. But take away the seven points and WVU may have taken control of this game and won.

This is one college football fan who is tired of officials deciding the outcome of games. Enough already.

Pac-10 catches SEC ref fever

It is now the Pac-10's turn to suspend an official (or officials). Following the footsteps of the SEC, the Pac-10 isn't naming names, but league representatives have said the following about Taylor Mays' decapitation of Oregon State's James Rodgers:

“Our members expect a high level of officiating in all our sports and the Conference office shares that expectation. We have taken this action in light of the blatant and dangerous nature of the missed call. We have full confidence in our highly trained and qualified staff of football officials, but they, like the coaches and players, are accountable and must meet the high expectations placed upon them.”

Suspension may be the right call, but let's not forget these guys are not like Major League umpires. There's no union and just a weekly paycheck. Sure, most of them have other jobs, but this is a cut in pay. We all want them to do a better job, but they are also human.

Mea culpa for SEC officials ... again

Let me see if I got this right.

The most powerful, cash-rich conference in the nation can't find a quality group of football officials. Here I thought the Big East officials were worthless and incompetent.

There were the unnecessary unsportsmanlike penalties in the LSU-Georgia game on Oct. 3. SEC officials were nice enough to apologize to Georgia and admit the officiating mistake.

Then this past weekend it appears SEC officials were screwing up calls in favor of the higher-ranked teams in Gainesville and Tuscaloosa.

In the Florida-Arkansas game, the officiating crew had at least two horrendous calls go against the Razorbacks on the Gators' game-winning drive. They also had one missed called on the Gators.

The first bad call was a phantom interference call that you can watch here.



The second pitiful penalty was a personal foul on a defensive lineman protecting himself from a block. See what you think.



Then there was the missed offensive pass interference on UF receiver Riley Cooper that could have easily kept the Gators from getting into field-goal range. Again, you be the judge.



Now South Carolina's Steve Spurrier is accusing the Crimson Tide of its own form of trickery by using tape to spot field goals and extra points in last weekend's 20-6 Alabama win.

I'm not unrealistic. Officials are going to miss calls. Maybe they don't see something. But there is no excuse when officials call something that didn't happen. I can't overlook that and neither should the SEC. The statement released by conference officials is actually disturbing.

"After video review, there was no evidence on the video to support the personal foul penalty called on Arkansas midway through the fourth quarter. The other calls that were referenced are judgment calls and a review of those calls have been communicated to Arkansas."

I would expect something stronger. But Florida and Alabama are carrying the SEC this year (and last year), so no one (not even game officials) are going to rock ratings gold of these two.

(Hat tip: The Wiz of Odds for finding all of the video proof)

UF wins ... thanks to officials

Nice job CBS. Your highlight package from the Florida-Arkansas game is missing two major plays. Somehow the producers neglected to include two horrible penalties on the same Gator drive with about eight minutes remaining in the game.

The first bad call was on a Razorbacks' defensive back who was called for pass interference in the end zone, giving the Gators the ball at the Arkansas 21. For some reason, SEC officials don't like it when a DB uses good technique.

Then, on the very next play, Arkansas was flagged for a personal foul when a player decided to defend himself from a charging Gator. Get this ... it actually happened on a play that was 15 yards away from where the ball was at the point of the UF player making contact.

You know what happened next, Florida's Jeffrey Demps scored on a 10-yard dash to tie the game at 20.

That's embarrassing for the SEC officials, but even more so for CBS officials, who are too scared to show up the conference.