Was it me or did the ref do a terrible job in this regard? 2 or 3 were downright awful and spotted at least 2 yards away from where it should have been marked.
Spotting the ball
- Thread starter Roncuba65
- Start date
I also noticed this. Watching from the TV, it was the lion judge on the far side who was always making poor spots, and, interestingly, enough, all of the controversial spots helped Penn State either by marking a shorter marking them long. But you expect that and you play through it and we won so
Relative was at the game and kept texting this to me all game long.
So Yes.
So Yes.
Eickholt, Hassel, and a few other people in the media were also pointing this out throughout the game. They were pretty generous to Penn State.
I was on the 50 yard line and had a great view - and all night it was a big issue. Just to name a few that had huge implications:
- RVZ diving catch that resulted in a 4th and 3. Easily a yard and half miss-spot and should have been 4th and 1.5 or 4th and 1. An accurate spot, maybe we go for it. Instead we missed a FG.
- The Grownowksi slide. Let me first acknowledge yes, it is indeed where the QB STARTS to give himself up, not where he lands. But MG started his slide at or after the first down marker, and the far line judge spotted it about 1.5 yards short of the first down. Punt.
- Penn st running the ball on the last (maybe second to last drive) and was pushed out of bounds a yard or two before the first down on the Iowa sideline inside the 20. Should have been 3rd and 1 or 2…instead they miraculously gave them a first down and moved the chains. This one was incredibly weird to me. This one was the worst view for me, so maybe I am off on it. But it seems crazy and the crowd seemed to agree
Lastly - not a line spot but the DLee int on the 4 yard line. No way was he in bounds when he caught that. And it was ruled incomplete on the field too, so somehow they found conclusive evidence to give us the inside the 5 yard line. Yes, my black and gold color glasses would probably argue otherwise if it would have helped the hawks. But giving us that int at the 4 yard line was no question helpful for PSU. They had already lined up to punt the ball before replay stopped it and highly unlikely they pin us inside that spot.
oh well…we won, but any one of these horrible calls could have easily changed a 1 point win!
- RVZ diving catch that resulted in a 4th and 3. Easily a yard and half miss-spot and should have been 4th and 1.5 or 4th and 1. An accurate spot, maybe we go for it. Instead we missed a FG.
- The Grownowksi slide. Let me first acknowledge yes, it is indeed where the QB STARTS to give himself up, not where he lands. But MG started his slide at or after the first down marker, and the far line judge spotted it about 1.5 yards short of the first down. Punt.
- Penn st running the ball on the last (maybe second to last drive) and was pushed out of bounds a yard or two before the first down on the Iowa sideline inside the 20. Should have been 3rd and 1 or 2…instead they miraculously gave them a first down and moved the chains. This one was incredibly weird to me. This one was the worst view for me, so maybe I am off on it. But it seems crazy and the crowd seemed to agree
Lastly - not a line spot but the DLee int on the 4 yard line. No way was he in bounds when he caught that. And it was ruled incomplete on the field too, so somehow they found conclusive evidence to give us the inside the 5 yard line. Yes, my black and gold color glasses would probably argue otherwise if it would have helped the hawks. But giving us that int at the 4 yard line was no question helpful for PSU. They had already lined up to punt the ball before replay stopped it and highly unlikely they pin us inside that spot.
oh well…we won, but any one of these horrible calls could have easily changed a 1 point win!
Agree with all that but the Lee pick.
It wasn't his dragging foot that they said gave him a pick, his first foot looked like it was still on the turf when he got control to me. But, I was also at the game so I was looking at the boards. I had a buddy text me that he was bummed it looked like it was picked as well so we could see a punt and maybe get better field position.
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Just put sensors in everything and let AI spot it.
He absolutely gained possession with his toes still on the ground. It was very quick so I can see why they ruled it incomplete live.
If you were watching on TV, MG did indeed start his slide too early.
He needed to dive forward instead of slide in that situation.
He needed to dive forward instead of slide in that situation.
Was texting my son and onother friend during this gme and like the rest of you this was brought up a few time. Either one ref over ruling another or the spot off where it looked to be. Yes I am an Iowa fan but to me it looked like they jabbed us a few times. "football gods" were against us but some we prevailed, thanks to Chuck err Mark naked bootleg.
Spotting the ball has been horrible in every game I've watched for a long, long time--years and years. Saturday was just one more. But the Press-Citizen actually wrote about the multiple mistakes made Saturday night, and said the poor spotting has become a running joke in the press box. The refs just put the ball down wherever the hell they want, and missing the actual spot by a yard or two is common. There was one PSU pass play Saturday when the receiver went out of bounds a good 1.5 yards short of the first down, but the ref marked it a first down by a good yard! And there was a timeout before the next play, so the booth had plenty of time to review it and change it, but there wasn't a peep. The booth was probably too busy reading the latest updates on illegal fair catch signals.
Anyway, instead of coming up third and a yard-and-a-half, PSU was awarded a first down. In a one-point game, that alone could have changed the outcome. Why this has been happening for years with nothing being done about it would be an interesting question for whoever is in charge of the officials. And in this age of gambling, it's an even more serious question. But it's stinking BS to let the officials be so haphazard, so random, so wrong about spotting the ball game after game, year after year.