We doused the field

[Altima 200]

Rudy did tackle the qb a couple steps out of bounds. I guess will couldn't see from across the field. I knew instantly that was a flag.

That's not true... Should've been a no-call.

As the proud son of a college official, let me justify my way of thinking... That was the head-linesman's call, because he has the boundary. He was in position to Throw the flag (watch the film), but he didn't. It was clean. I totally disagree. That was not solely the head linesman's call. In that situation the linesman is responsible for getting the spot when the runner steps out of bounds. The other officials are the ones "cleaning up" behind the play. There's no way the head linesman could even see that hit if he's doing his primary job which is to get the spot.

The flag was thrown by the center-judge, who was trailing the play. That's exactly how its supposed to be. He's cleaning up the stuff that happens behind the play He was completely out of position to make that call, thus why it wasn't his call to make! No he was not out of position. He was in perfect position to make that call. If he was out of position as you say, then he wouldn't have ended up sliding down out of bounds. He was in a PERFECT position to make the call as he was hustling to the sidelines to do his job. It's the players responsibility to know where they are on the field. Rudy should know better and never had to hit him at all.

That whole sequence of events was blown from the get go.

Lawson got hugged, literally bear-hugged by #76. no call. I don't disagree here. Lots of our players were held most of the night. They really need to fix this problem because I see it in most every game

Rudy Ford hit out of bounds. bad call. NO. Great call. It's the players responsibility to know where they are on the field. Rudy knew the QB was going out of bounds and went low on him anyway. Easy call and right call.

Unsportsmanlike penalty. bad call. Wrong again. I'm not sure how you can even draw this conclusion. Several things come into play here. 1. We have no idea what has been said from assistants or anybody else on the sidelines over the course of the game. You need to consider the fact that the side judge had likely warned Muschamp earlier in the game. We also have no idea what was said that drew the flag since we aren't down on the field. Unless you know exactly what was said over the course of the entire game then there's no way anybody here can make a determination on whether that was a good call or not. Most here say both were bad calls because they were against Auburn and nothing more.

30 yards of penalties that should've never been. That/those flags would've NEVER been thrown against alabama. That's totally not true. In fact there was a personal foul called on uat later in the game.

This is all your opinion...

I'm glad you took time out of your morning to read a rule book... But unfortunately, a lot more goes in to being an official than the rule book... like judgement. It's is at the officials discretion to call a hold, or in this case, a "late hit".

They (the officials) established early on in the game, that they were obviously gonna let the kids play... which is fine with me. But, if this is the case, you can't throw a ticky-tack late hit... In the 4th quarter of a one posetion game. As an official, you don't want to be 'that guy'.

And yes, that was most definitely the line-judge's (or in this case, the head-linesman's) call. Not when the head linesman is responsible for the ball carrier. The center-judge was 20 yards behind the play. He was in no position to make that call, because there was no way he could tell where contact was initiated. So, no, it wasn't his call to make. He wasn't even remotely close to 20 yards behind the play when the contact happened. He's moving to cover his position. Had he been 20 yards behind the play he never would have slide out of bounds while throwing the flag right behind the play. He was in PERFECT position to make the call. His job is to clean up behind the play and that's exactly what he was doing.

Either way, I work with one of the side-judges from last night. I'll pick his brain a little bit. Though, he realizes he's part of one of the more controversial crews in the SEC.

I'm not just pulling stuff from you know where here. I have officiated the game for 27 years. Again, its up to the players to know where they are on the field. Rudy Ford didn't have to hit him at all but when he did the player was already out of bounds.

agree to disagree then...

but, just so you know, I'm not pullin stuff from you know where either. My dad was a college official for 16 seasons... opinions differ.

You are right opinions differ and even opinions of officials differ, that's what makes the job so difficult. But, with all due respect if you haven't been on the field yourself then you really don't get the full picture of how things are. You probably know more than most here but its limited if you haven't been on the field to see it first hand (in an officiating capacity).

Just echoing what my old man said...

He knows Steve Shaw well... and their opinions differ quite often.

A lot like Steve, my dad could never call AU because he went here. We all know Steve's a bammer.

Forgot to mention, Steve was/is a great official. Has done a real nice job with the SEC as a whole.

I just don't like like Ritter's crew... might not be all their fault, though.

[WarTiger 3,909]

Rudy did tackle the qb a couple steps out of bounds. I guess will couldn't see from across the field. I knew instantly that was a flag.

That's not true... Should've been a no-call.

As the proud son of a college official, let me justify my way of thinking... That was the head-linesman's call, because he has the boundary. He was in position to Throw the flag (watch the film), but he didn't. It was clean. I totally disagree. That was not solely the head linesman's call. In that situation the linesman is responsible for getting the spot when the runner steps out of bounds. The other officials are the ones "cleaning up" behind the play. There's no way the head linesman could even see that hit if he's doing his primary job which is to get the spot.

The flag was thrown by the center-judge, who was trailing the play. That's exactly how its supposed to be. He's cleaning up the stuff that happens behind the play He was completely out of position to make that call, thus why it wasn't his call to make! No he was not out of position. He was in perfect position to make that call. If he was out of position as you say, then he wouldn't have ended up sliding down out of bounds. He was in a PERFECT position to make the call as he was hustling to the sidelines to do his job. It's the players responsibility to know where they are on the field. Rudy should know better and never had to hit him at all.

That whole sequence of events was blown from the get go.

Lawson got hugged, literally bear-hugged by #76. no call. I don't disagree here. Lots of our players were held most of the night. They really need to fix this problem because I see it in most every game

Rudy Ford hit out of bounds. bad call. NO. Great call. It's the players responsibility to know where they are on the field. Rudy knew the QB was going out of bounds and went low on him anyway. Easy call and right call.

Unsportsmanlike penalty. bad call. Wrong again. I'm not sure how you can even draw this conclusion. Several things come into play here. 1. We have no idea what has been said from assistants or anybody else on the sidelines over the course of the game. You need to consider the fact that the side judge had likely warned Muschamp earlier in the game. We also have no idea what was said that drew the flag since we aren't down on the field. Unless you know exactly what was said over the course of the entire game then there's no way anybody here can make a determination on whether that was a good call or not. Most here say both were bad calls because they were against Auburn and nothing more.

30 yards of penalties that should've never been. That/those flags would've NEVER been thrown against alabama. That's totally not true. In fact there was a personal foul called on uat later in the game.

This is all your opinion...

I'm glad you took time out of your morning to read a rule book... But unfortunately, a lot more goes in to being an official than the rule book... like judgement. It's is at the officials discretion to call a hold, or in this case, a "late hit".

They (the officials) established early on in the game, that they were obviously gonna let the kids play... which is fine with me. But, if this is the case, you can't throw a ticky-tack late hit... In the 4th quarter of a one posetion game. As an official, you don't want to be 'that guy'.

And yes, that was most definitely the line-judge's (or in this case, the head-linesman's) call. Not when the head linesman is responsible for the ball carrier. The center-judge was 20 yards behind the play. He was in no position to make that call, because there was no way he could tell where contact was initiated. So, no, it wasn't his call to make. He wasn't even remotely close to 20 yards behind the play when the contact happened. He's moving to cover his position. Had he been 20 yards behind the play he never would have slide out of bounds while throwing the flag right behind the play. He was in PERFECT position to make the call. His job is to clean up behind the play and that's exactly what he was doing.

Either way, I work with one of the side-judges from last night. I'll pick his brain a little bit. Though, he realizes he's part of one of the more controversial crews in the SEC.

I'm not just pulling stuff from you know where here. I have officiated the game for 27 years. Again, its up to the players to know where they are on the field. Rudy Ford didn't have to hit him at all but when he did the player was already out of bounds.

agree to disagree then...

but, just so you know, I'm not pullin stuff from you know where either. My dad was a college official for 16 seasons... opinions differ.

You are right opinions differ and even opinions of officials differ, that's what makes the job so difficult. But, with all due respect if you haven't been on the field yourself then you really don't get the full picture of how things are. You probably know more than most here but its limited if you haven't been on the field to see it first hand (in an officiating capacity).

Just echoing what my old man said...

He knows Steve Shaw well... and their opinions differ quite often.

A lot like Steve, my dad could never call AU because he went here. We all know Steve's a bammer.

Forgot to mention, Steve was/is a great official. Has done a real nice job with the SEC as a whole.

I just don't like like Ritter's crew... might not be all their fault, though.

I agree. I think Steve Shaw did a great job when he was on the field and he's done a great job as coordinator of officials too. Ritters crew is no different than any other crew, IMO. They all make mistakes and its just the nature of the beast. There is no officiating crew that is perfect. Never has been, never will be. Every crew at every level misses things that they shouldn't.

My only complaint with SEC officiating as it is currently(probably happens in other conferences as well), they tend to just ignore things that happen in certain situations that were their fault rather than own it and get the play right. My primary example is a play in the Tennessee Vanderbilt game several years ago when there was an OBVIOUS whistle after a turnover and instead of recognizing the inadvertent whistle and using the rule that covers that, they ignored that it happened and it gave Tennessee the win that they hadn't yet earned.

[Altima 200]

My complaint... Is that everything seems to cater towards alabama. No matter who the opponent is. It might be because they are always in the hunt for a championship, but it just seems they get away with a lot!

I give my buddy (who is in Ritter's crew) a hard time. He thinks I'm crazy, but what's he supposed to say. He would NEVER admit to that.

As far as Tom, all joking aside, I truly think the man is afraid of Nick Saban. Saban has killed him over the years, and I think it's taken a toll on him.

[tigerfangs 269]

My problem is not the late hit. It was the WM flag. If AU bench had been warned previously could anyone let me know when. If they were warned so be it. If not this is not an argument imo bc saban rant and muschamp rant were apples&apples

[WarTiger 3,909]

My problem is not the late hit. It was the WM flag. If AU bench had been warned previously could anyone let me know when. If they were warned so be it. If not this is not an argument imo bc saban rant and muschamp rant were apples&apples

A sideline warning and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty are very different things and not at all equal. The sideline warning is typically for someone (coach, player, trainer) being in the restricted area when they aren't supposed to be. It has zero to do with unsportsmanlike conduct. A warning prior to being flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct is not something that is communicated to the crowd or tv like announcing a penalty. Its done on the sideline by the official covering that sideline. He tells the coach when he's heard enough. I assure you he was warned to stop before it was flagged. It is then communicated to the rest of the crew through their wireless communication.

[around4ever 4,139]

WT, who called the too many men on the field on us? It was not the back judge who normally calls that. It was the line judge next to Saban, right? Then Ritter looked to be communicating with the booth before he announced it. That was what Mike Pereira wrote a story on last year. He was saying that some penalties are called by the booth and communicated to the Referee. The booth is not supposed to call penalties or alert the Referee if something is not right. The booth is for replayable clarifications only. Is this not correct?

[Tigerbelle 5,299]

I thought the bammer coaches up in their booth alerted the officials....

[MaxP 137]

My problem is not the late hit. It was the WM flag. If AU bench had been warned previously could anyone let me know when. If they were warned so be it. If not this is not an argument imo bc saban rant and muschamp rant were apples&apples

The Auburn bench was warned in the first half before Alabama's was. I was at the game. It definitely happened.

[Cat4AU 0]

You are fighting a loosing battle with the refs when you play the Turds, I don't care what team is on the field.

[wde21 344]

When you play uat officiating is always slanted in their favor especially if they are in the hunt. You just have to overcome them too sync this year we don't have the team to do that.

[WarTiger 3,909]

WT, who called the too many men on the field on us? It was not the back judge who normally calls that. It was the line judge next to Saban, right? Then Ritter looked to be communicating with the booth before he announced it. That was what Mike Pereira wrote a story on last year. He was saying that some penalties are called by the booth and communicated to the Referee. The booth is not supposed to call penalties or alert the Referee if something is not right. The booth is for replayable clarifications only. Is this not correct?

The Head Linesman called the sideline warning. Typically the backjudge and/or the side judge/field judge will be counting defense pre-snap and signally to each other that they have 11 on the field. We definitely had 12 on the field at the snap. Who actually threw the flag for it, we will never know but it should have come from on of the 3 officials behind the defense.

Replay can be used to penalize a team for having too many players on the field. Since we aren't privy to the officiating communications we will never know how that penalty was done, only that it was the right call.

[around4ever 4,139]

WT, who called the too many men on the field on us? It was not the back judge who normally calls that. It was the line judge next to Saban, right? Then Ritter looked to be communicating with the booth before he announced it. That was what Mike Pereira wrote a story on last year. He was saying that some penalties are called by the booth and communicated to the Referee. The booth is not supposed to call penalties or alert the Referee if something is not right. The booth is for replayable clarifications only. Is this not correct?

The Head Linesman called the sideline warning. Typically the backjudge and/or the side judge/field judge will be counting defense pre-snap and signally to each other that they have 11 on the field. We definitely had 12 on the field at the snap. Who actually threw the flag for it, we will never know but it should have come from on of the 3 officials behind the defense.

Replay can be used to penalize a team for having too many players on the field. Since we aren't privy to the officiating communications we will never know how that penalty was done, only that it was the right call.

There was no doubt we had 12 on the field. But, I am wondering who made the call. Can't replay be used to verify that there were too many on the field but not to make the actual call?

[WarTiger 3,909]

WT, who called the too many men on the field on us? It was not the back judge who normally calls that. It was the line judge next to Saban, right? Then Ritter looked to be communicating with the booth before he announced it. That was what Mike Pereira wrote a story on last year. He was saying that some penalties are called by the booth and communicated to the Referee. The booth is not supposed to call penalties or alert the Referee if something is not right. The booth is for replayable clarifications only. Is this not correct?

The Head Linesman called the sideline warning. Typically the backjudge and/or the side judge/field judge will be counting defense pre-snap and signally to each other that they have 11 on the field. We definitely had 12 on the field at the snap. Who actually threw the flag for it, we will never know but it should have come from on of the 3 officials behind the defense.

Replay can be used to penalize a team for having too many players on the field. Since we aren't privy to the officiating communications we will never know how that penalty was done, only that it was the right call.

There was no doubt we had 12 on the field. But, I am wondering who made the call. Can't replay be used to verify that there were too many on the field but not to make the actual call?

Well yes, but you have to remember also that a head coach can challenge if the on field officials didn't see it. If the challenge is successful and there were 12 on the field, then the penalty would have to be called at that point. So the replay official can actually be used to flag a team in several situations.

[3rdgeneration 6,469]

If I remember correctly, the reason we had 12 men on the field is because we were in the middle of substituting after the Turds had just substituted. My husband was screaming at the refs because they did not let us get our players in and should have been standing over the ball until we did.

[WarTiger 3,909]

If I remember correctly, the reason we had 12 men on the field is because we were in the middle of substituting after the Turds had just substituted. My husband was screaming at the refs because they did not let us get our players in and should have been standing over the ball until we did.

Well, that wasn't the entire picture. When it got to 4th down, the snap happened earlier than it should have. Danielson mentioned on the broadcast that they were replaying the down because uat substituted and Auburn wasn't given the opportunity to do so. Well, he was wrong. The white hat clearly announced (if you listen to him in the background behind Danielson's voice) that the down was being replayed because the down marker hadn't got into place yet.