Officiating

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

The calls or no calls in this game were mind boggling. What do these guys see? I even heard Saban say that they deserved an illegal procedure penalty on that bizarre series with two bad snaps. Crazy. Can they not do any better than this. We won the game, and that's all that matters. Overcoming the opposition as well as bone heads with the stripes on, makes it challenging, but we did it.

[AUDub 11,131]

Just now, Farmer Brown said:

The calls or no calls in this game were mind boggling. What do these guys see? I even heard Saban say that they deserved an illegal procedure penalty on that bizarre series with two bad snaps. Crazy. Can they not do any better than this. We won the game, and that's all that matters. Overcoming the opposition as well as bone heads with the stripes on, makes it challenging, but we did it.

They did. They weren't set on the fourth down snap that went by Hurts. By a funny twist of the rules, that violation isn't reviewable, while the illegal participation rule is.

Don't care. Defense ate the following play alive anyway. 

[caleb1633 1,418]

We had some things not go our way too. You don't get beat like that and it simply be a matter of making mistakes and having bad penalties go against you. When the other team is playing better, luck tends to be that team's favor and they will naturally make the other team look like they aren't playing well.

[Farmer Brown 2,391]

4 minutes ago, Bigbens42 said:

They did. They weren't set on the fourth down snap that went by Hurts. By a funny twist of the rules, that violation isn't reviewable, while the illegal participation rule is.

Don't care. Defense ate the following play alive anyway. 

Yes. That was wonderful. That was the way it was all night. The bad things didn't matter. They were overcome. It shouldn't have been un-reviewable. It should have been called at the snap of the ball.

[bigsixfive 327]

It was about as bad as I’ve seen it. That game was 2 on 1 for sure. It was more lopsided than the score indicates. They only earned one TD, and there were a few PIs that should have been called on them but instead our drives were killed. 

[Harp_AU2013 221]

I saw the typical uat bear hug holds all over the online that never get called but other than that I thought it was pretty balanced on both sides... except that 4th down call.

[WeagleAU 594]

36 minutes ago, Farmer Brown said:

The calls or no calls in this game were mind boggling. What do these guys see? I even heard Saban say that they deserved an illegal procedure penalty on that bizarre series with two bad snaps. Crazy. Can they not do any better than this. We won the game, and that's all that matters. Overcoming the opposition as well as bone heads with the stripes on, makes it challenging, but we did it.

I've had a problem with the officiating in this league for a while now.  The inconsistency with calling games across the board is mind boggling to me.

[bg5 536]

It was terrible especially for a home game. I said at one point that a video would be going to the SEC office. I thought it was that bad.

[Scotty2Hotty 520]

32 minutes ago, bigsixfive said:

It was about as bad as I’ve seen it.

How quickly the 2015 IB is forgotten.

[AUFlyer99 647]

40 minutes ago, Scotty2Hotty said:

How quickly the 2015 IB is forgotten.

I was in Mexico for that one.  They were even talking about it...(ok, not really, but it was bad).  

[Beaker 2,457]

On the bama td pass for a TD - wasn't that a clear push off by the bama receiver?

Also, I would have called PI when Stove was 'tackled' going for a ball on the sideline.

Also the TD ruled by the official ont he tipped pass was called by the official behind the catch, not the back judge looking directly at the play.

We got away with a hold on their receiver once the replay showed also.

The margin of victory could have easily been 17 or 21 points 

[AUTUmike 79]

There were definitely some bad calls, but all things considered, I'll take it against Alabama. The fourth down illegal procedure missed call was obviously the worst, but our defense made the play of the game to stuff them on the second 4th down. 

[AUDub 11,131]

10 minutes ago, AUTUmike said:

There were definitely some bad calls, but all things considered, I'll take it against Alabama. The fourth down illegal procedure missed call was obviously the worst, but our defense made the play of the game to stuff them on the second 4th down. 

I would beg to differ on the play of the game.

Roberts' tackle on Scarborough on their second drive of the third quarter. Bama had the mo' after driving it right down the field to start the third. Ending that drive was crucial. 

[OldTigerGrad09 22]

1 hour ago, AUTUmike said:

There were definitely some bad calls, but all things considered, I'll take it against Alabama. The fourth down illegal procedure missed call was obviously the worst, but our defense made the play of the game to stuff them on the second 4th down. 

That fourth down stop was probably the defensive play of the game...... IMHO.......

[jAUSon 2,836]

2 hours ago, Farmer Brown said:

Yes. That was wonderful. That was the way it was all night. The bad things didn't matter. They were overcome. It shouldn't have been un-reviewable. It should have been called at the snap of the ball.

All ten referees were counting Auburn players, so they never saw the snap lol. Bama plays like the New England Patriots. They're trained to hold on every snap and disguise it, ditto for pass interference. BTW, we've been watching them hold for ten years, no reason to expect it to be different today

[nurbis 571]

1 hour ago, Beaker said:

On the bama td pass for a TD - wasn't that a clear push off by the bama receiver?

Also, I would have called PI when Stove was 'tackled' going for a ball on the sideline.

Also the TD ruled by the official ont he tipped pass was called by the official behind the catch, not the back judge looking directly at the play.

We got away with a hold on their receiver once the replay showed also.

The margin of victory could have easily been 17 or 21 points 

I saw that as well but with our guy tipping the ball, I don't think that is a penalty but I could be wrong on that.

[aujeff11 6,243]

Does anybody have footage of the last play of the game? It appeared to me that Hurts was past the line of scrimmage before he connected on that 65 yard pass play. If so, those 65 yards shouldn’t count. It’s a disservice to our defense.

[AUTigergrad08 617]

Jeff Holland was held on almost every play.   I couldn’t believe that it wasn’t called. 

[leeman101 7]

3 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Does anybody have footage of the last play of the game? It appeared to me that Hurts was past the line of scrimmage before he connected on that 65 yard pass play. If so, those 65 yards shouldn’t count. It’s a disservice to our defense.

Other sites say the play was nullified and the final stats corrected.

[aujeff11 6,243]

2 minutes ago, leeman101 said:

Other sites say the play was nullified and the final stats corrected.

Thank goodness. I know the play didn’t affect the score but this defense is one of the best in the nation and the official stats should indicate that. 

[rexbo 104]

It's inconceivable that the dozen or more plays Hurts was being chased by our DL that holding wasn't committed.  And there's always that one Bama drive where Saban decides to run it every play and instructs his OL to dare the refs to call holding, almost always when they've just gone down on the scoreboard.  It has to be planned, it happens time and again.

[WarTiger 3,896]

4 hours ago, aujeff11 said:

Does anybody have footage of the last play of the game? It appeared to me that Hurts was past the line of scrimmage before he connected on that 65 yard pass play. If so, those 65 yards shouldn’t count. It’s a disservice to our defense.

I have it.  He was clearly beyond the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball and a flag was thrown for it.  Since the play didn't score and the game was over the penalty was just declined.  Unfortunately that 65 yard play is in the stat sheet but only because the game ended during the down.

[WarTiger 3,896]

My perspective on the officiating.  They missed a LOT of holding on uat.  A LOT.  Every time hurts would scramble, they were holding Holland and a few others.  One play, there were TWO different instances where they were holding while Hurts scrambled.     As an official, I understand the concept of officiating and we are taught to not flag it if it didn't impact the play.  But, those holds clearly impacted most of the plays.  Without them, we probably have 6-7 sacks and that would have definitely impacted the game.   Uat's tackel/tightend was a holding machine all night long.

If they aren't going to call the holding when its obvious, just take it out of the rule book and let holding be legal.  

The first td uat scored was a definite push off and it should have been flagged.  The backjudge was in a great position to see it and for whatever reason (no I don't buy the conspiracy crap) decided not to flag it. 

The illegal block called on uat was a great call, but it wasn't a block below the waist.   Well, it was below the waist but it was also from behind which makes it CLIPPING and not a block below the waist.  Penalty enforcement is the same, but it needs to be reported as to what it actually was. 

On the deep pass to Slayton early, I can understand why they didn't flag that.   Could it have been flagged, sure, but there wasn't enough there, IMO, to warrant the flag.   I definitely wanted the call without question because I want everything we can get as a fan, but I also understand why it wasn't flagged.  Most don't seem to understand that hand fighting and such is legal in college. So, here are the things we are taught to look for in regards to pass interference.  1.  Grab and Restrict (was that there, NO),  2. cut off his route (was that there, NO, Slayton was in front of him the whole way).  3. Playing through  his back (again, NO).  4. Extending an arm across the recievers body (not this either as Slayton was in front of him) 4. Hooking and Restricting (again, no, Slayton had him beat).   A little hand fighting isn't pass interference.

The last one I remember for now.   The illegal substitution on 4th down.  Everybody saw the play and the replay.   We definitely had 12 on the field.  There's no dispute to that at all.  But, this play exposed a major flaw to the replay system.    The current replay provisions allow for plays to be reviewed when its a question of too many players on the field.   But, the review  doesn't allow them to penalize the opponent if a penalty occured there as well.    Saban was right in his post game presser that they should have been flagged (he called it illegal procedure, there is no such thing).  It should have been an illegal shift as they had multiple players moving at the snap. They weren't set prior to the snap.     If the replay is going to be allowed to correct a situation like too many men on the field, then they need to be able to get the infraction committed by the other team when it was obvious there was one.   It's not right to look at replay and know the offense committed a penalty, but ignore it and penalize the defense for a penalty when neither was flagged during the down.   I'm glad we got the stop on 4th down after they enforced the penalty, but worse case they should have offset the penalties and replayed the down, which would have been 4th and 8 I believe, instead of 4th and 3. 

Here's a list of penalties that are reviewable.

Reviewable Fouls
ARTICLE 8.
The following plays are reviewable and the replay official may create a foul
when there is no call by the on-field officials:
a. Player making a forward pass or forward handoff when beyond the
neutral zone or after a change of possession (Rule 12-3-2-c and –d).
b. Player beyond the neutral zone when kicking the ball (Rule 12-3-4-b).
c. Blocking by Team B players before they are eligible to touch the ball on
an onside kick (Rule 12-3-4-e).
d. The number of players on the field for either team during a live ball
(Rule 12-3-6-a).
e. Illegal touching of a forward pass by an originally eligible receiver who
has gone out of bounds. (Rules 12-3-2-b and 12-3-3-h).
f. Player who is out of bounds touching a free kick that had not been
touched inbounds (Rule 12-3-4-a).
g. Forward pass that becomes illegal as a second pass after an on-field
ruling of a backward pass is reversed (Rule 12-3-2-e).
h. A clear, obvious and egregious targeting foul (Rule 12-3-5-b).

[eibua12 81]

Well maybe if the officials had thrown the flags like they were supposed to do on the illegal shift and 12 men on the field the replay wouldn't be needed.  I would contend that penalties shouldn't be reviewable. 

[bikeriderga 134]

Actually, I though the officiating for this game was some of the best we have seen all year.  The replay booth was all over it.

Kudos to the refs in this one. They were actually pretty much on their game. Did they miss some? Of course but in the end, it was an pretty evenly called game.