....the Referee's/Crew's claim that Barkley's 87 yard run (changed to an 80 yard run retroactively) was not a "Reviewable Play" (the whistles blowing the play dead did not occur until long after Barkley had crossed the Goal Line as confirmed by the actions of the Side Judge on the play who ran with Barkley just in-front of the play down the sideline while looking directly at Barkley's feet from inside the 15 yard line all the way into the Endzone - had a whistle blown, the SJ [and all officials on the field for that matter] are taught to all start blowing their whistles and the play dead at the same time. IOW, the Side Judge would have stopped running with the play, would have started blowing his whistle and would have gone up the sideline to convene with the trailing official to find the "spotting" of the ball on the sideline. None of this remotely happened because the first whistle blowing the play dead did not occur until Barkley had long since crossed the goal-line.). The Officials are utterly wrong in telling Coach Franklin that "the play as called was not reviewable" -- utter NONSENSE as proven by the subsequent spotting of the ball; the ball was spotted at a point where Barkley "supposedly" was retroactively determined to have gone "out of bounds" that REPLAY unquestionably demonstrates that Barkley was clearly IN-BOUNDS and no whistles are sounding on the REPLAY!
But lets review the "Leaping" call, where this Crew again completely MISAPPLIED the CORRECT RULES. During the game in the "in-game thread", I pointed out that the 2017 NCAA Rules Change regarding "Leaping" during kick attempts ONLY APPLIED to "set kick attempts" (i.e., Field Goals or Point-After-TDs). I was immediately told that I was wrong by numerous self-ordained, b1g-hugging, poser-PSU-fan types that I was "incorrect" and it applied to all kicks which was part of the 2017 Rule Change.....blah, blah,blah. This is utterly INCORRECT as the following excerpted "rule change" on Rule 9-1-11 of the 2017 NCAA Rulebook clearly demonstrates with the "wording changes" highlighted:
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The Rule Change via changed wording is clearly to item "b." under Rule 9, Section 1, Article 11 "Leverage and Leaping" which is an item specifically limited to "set kick" situations. The next item, item "c." identifies when "Leaping" is applicable to "punting" situations - and #54 for PSU did not come from, nor leap into, the "tackle box" in his attempt to block the "punt" in question and did not violate the "Leaping" rule as it applies to "punt situations" as clearly identified in Rule 9-1-11-c even as modified for 2017 contrary to the call on the field yesterday.
The last 4 plays of PSU's last scoring drive of the 1st Half are also very emblematic of yesterday's very transparent bad officiating especially given the fact that they followed the "non-review" reversal of Barkley's 87 yard TD run making it an 80 yard run marking him as OB at a point on the field that Replay clearly demonstrates he was In-Bounds:
The officiating was horrendous (they missed an obvious "block below the waist" on Akron's very first offensive play from scrimmage - an "Outside Bubble Screen" where it is illegal for the lead blocker to go low (i.e., below the waist) outside the "tackle box", no flag despite being blatantly obvious that it was an illegal block). The Referee telling Coach Franklin that the Barkley run, call and "spot" not being "Reviewable" despite no whistles being blown until Barkley had long crossed the goal-line is an embarrassing statement of how lamely incorrect this crew was regarding the ACTUAL RULES on multiple occasions with 100% of their being "wrong" to PSU's detriment and NEVER to Akron's detriment.
But lets review the "Leaping" call, where this Crew again completely MISAPPLIED the CORRECT RULES. During the game in the "in-game thread", I pointed out that the 2017 NCAA Rules Change regarding "Leaping" during kick attempts ONLY APPLIED to "set kick attempts" (i.e., Field Goals or Point-After-TDs). I was immediately told that I was wrong by numerous self-ordained, b1g-hugging, poser-PSU-fan types that I was "incorrect" and it applied to all kicks which was part of the 2017 Rule Change.....blah, blah,blah. This is utterly INCORRECT as the following excerpted "rule change" on Rule 9-1-11 of the 2017 NCAA Rulebook clearly demonstrates with the "wording changes" highlighted:
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Leverage and Leaping
ARTICLE 11. a. No defensive player, in an attempt to gain an advantage, may step, jump or stand on an opponent.
b. It is a foul if a defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone leaps or hurdles in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try. It is not a foul if the player was aligned in a stationary position within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.
c. It is a foul if a defensive player who is inside the tackle box tries to block a punt by leaving his feet in an attempt to leap directly over an opponent. 1. It is not a foul if the player tries to block the punt by jumping straight up without attempting to leap over the opponent. 2. It is not a foul if a player attempts to leap through or over the gap between players.
d. No defensive player, in an attempt to block, bat or catch a kick, may: 1. Step, jump or stand on a teammate. 2. Place a hand(s) on a teammate to get leverage for additional height. 3. Be picked up by a teammate, or be elevated, propelled or pushed.
PENALTY [a-d]—15 yards, previous spot and automatic first down. [S38]
e. No player may position himself with his feet on the back or shoulders of a teammate before the snap.
******************************************************************************************ARTICLE 11. a. No defensive player, in an attempt to gain an advantage, may step, jump or stand on an opponent.
b. It is a foul if a defensive player who runs forward from beyond the neutral zone leaps or hurdles in an obvious attempt to block a field goal or try. It is not a foul if the player was aligned in a stationary position within one yard of the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped.
c. It is a foul if a defensive player who is inside the tackle box tries to block a punt by leaving his feet in an attempt to leap directly over an opponent. 1. It is not a foul if the player tries to block the punt by jumping straight up without attempting to leap over the opponent. 2. It is not a foul if a player attempts to leap through or over the gap between players.
d. No defensive player, in an attempt to block, bat or catch a kick, may: 1. Step, jump or stand on a teammate. 2. Place a hand(s) on a teammate to get leverage for additional height. 3. Be picked up by a teammate, or be elevated, propelled or pushed.
PENALTY [a-d]—15 yards, previous spot and automatic first down. [S38]
e. No player may position himself with his feet on the back or shoulders of a teammate before the snap.
The Rule Change via changed wording is clearly to item "b." under Rule 9, Section 1, Article 11 "Leverage and Leaping" which is an item specifically limited to "set kick" situations. The next item, item "c." identifies when "Leaping" is applicable to "punting" situations - and #54 for PSU did not come from, nor leap into, the "tackle box" in his attempt to block the "punt" in question and did not violate the "Leaping" rule as it applies to "punt situations" as clearly identified in Rule 9-1-11-c even as modified for 2017 contrary to the call on the field yesterday.
The last 4 plays of PSU's last scoring drive of the 1st Half are also very emblematic of yesterday's very transparent bad officiating especially given the fact that they followed the "non-review" reversal of Barkley's 87 yard TD run making it an 80 yard run marking him as OB at a point on the field that Replay clearly demonstrates he was In-Bounds:
- On 2nd-&-16 with 1:39 remaining and a running clock, McSorley completes a pass to Tompkins who catches the ball, runs down the sidelines and is tackled out-of-bounds with 1:01 remaining. Thompkins is clearly tackled OB at the Akron 35 yard line just beyond the First Down Marker - the Side Judge proceeds to mark the ball backwards by at least 2 yards to the Akron 37 yard line and declares it 3rd-&-2 despite it being a clearly absurd mark on the sideline (i.e., stopped clock) with under 2 minutes to go in the half that is reviewable....but of course, no review of the clearly absurd mark that essentially took PSU out of a 1st-&-10 situation at the Akron 35 with 1:01 remaining and inexplicably put them in a 3rd-&-2 situation from the Akron 37 with 1:01 remaining (IOW, the Officials inexplicably refuse to "review" a clearly Reviewable play that was detrimental to PSU for a 2nd time in the half).
- Then only 2 plays later, Juwan Johnson catches a 7 yard pass on 4th-&-2 along the sidelines with his left foot clearly in-bounds and then steps out....1st-&-10 PSU at the Akron 30 with 0:32 seconds remaining, eeerrrrr, wait a minute, not so fast, were now going to "Review" this play on the sideline that is beneficial to PSU after not reviewing an absurdly bad mark on the sideline that was detrimental to PSU only 2 plays earlier??? (and not reviewing the Barkley play that was detrimental to PSU) - how does that possibly make sense? Identical situations on the sideline with the clock winding down in the half where "Review" can provide definitive help, but you DON'T REVIEW the clearly absurd spot on the sideline that wipes out a first down such that the "Bad Call" stands due to lack of a review, but Do Review a CLEAR CATCH on the sideline to confirm it's "a catch"???
- Then on the VERY NEXT PLAY, Barkley takes the ball to the house down the left sideline but NEVER even comes within a foot of the OB stripe - nowhere even close to being OB......TOUCHDOWN PSU, eeerrrrr, not so fast according to this "crack crew", were going to Review this one to see if Barkley went out-of-bounds, huh? Eerrr, what?
Of course, they now want to "Review" the beyond obvious every play that is beneficial to PSU after refusing to Review a horrendously bad spot on the sideline only 3 plays earlier that robbed PSU of at least 2 yards, a first down and fresh set of downs that forced PSU to convert a 4th-&-2 that never should have been a "3rd-&-2" or "4th-&-2" in the first place!
The officiating was horrendous (they missed an obvious "block below the waist" on Akron's very first offensive play from scrimmage - an "Outside Bubble Screen" where it is illegal for the lead blocker to go low (i.e., below the waist) outside the "tackle box", no flag despite being blatantly obvious that it was an illegal block). The Referee telling Coach Franklin that the Barkley run, call and "spot" not being "Reviewable" despite no whistles being blown until Barkley had long crossed the goal-line is an embarrassing statement of how lamely incorrect this crew was regarding the ACTUAL RULES on multiple occasions with 100% of their being "wrong" to PSU's detriment and NEVER to Akron's detriment.
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