Sorry it's taking me so long to go over this tape. Sunday and Monday were family days for me. And it usually takes me about seven hours to go over the whole thing.
So I'm still behind.
But anyway, I'm watching Oregon's final TD drive.
RJ Williamson gets called for holding.
Very soft call, considering the situation, and considering how much holding had been allowed through the course of the game.
Williamson kind of hooked him for a second. But, as Herbstreit pointed out, the flag came out late. That's always strange.
Okay, it's a penalty. You can argue that if you want to.
The official says it's defensive holding, 10 yards from the previous spot.
Well, the previous spot was the 50.
Then when they set the ball for the next play, it's at the MSU 35.
So the holding penalty was borderline. Then Oregon gets an extra 5 yards out of it, making it a 15-yard penalty.
Instead of second-and-5 and the 45 (if they hadn't called the penalty), it's first-and-10 at the 35.
Huge difference.
And, by the way, that was MSU's first penalty of the game.
Anyone think Helfrich was working the refs, arguing for a holding penalty, reminding the refs that MSU hadn't been flagged all night? If so, credit to him.
But it surprises me how many times we see officials get basic game administrative items wrong. And why does it always seem to happen in crunch time?
(Some of you may remember that the officials blew a spot in a major way in the plays leading up to the TJ Duckett thievery TD vs UM in 2001. They blew the circumstances around UM's 12-men-on-the-field penalty, resulting in MSU losing a down, a time out, and yardage on a Wolverine penalty).
So I'm still behind.
But anyway, I'm watching Oregon's final TD drive.
RJ Williamson gets called for holding.
Very soft call, considering the situation, and considering how much holding had been allowed through the course of the game.
Williamson kind of hooked him for a second. But, as Herbstreit pointed out, the flag came out late. That's always strange.
Okay, it's a penalty. You can argue that if you want to.
The official says it's defensive holding, 10 yards from the previous spot.
Well, the previous spot was the 50.
Then when they set the ball for the next play, it's at the MSU 35.
So the holding penalty was borderline. Then Oregon gets an extra 5 yards out of it, making it a 15-yard penalty.
Instead of second-and-5 and the 45 (if they hadn't called the penalty), it's first-and-10 at the 35.
Huge difference.
And, by the way, that was MSU's first penalty of the game.
Anyone think Helfrich was working the refs, arguing for a holding penalty, reminding the refs that MSU hadn't been flagged all night? If so, credit to him.
But it surprises me how many times we see officials get basic game administrative items wrong. And why does it always seem to happen in crunch time?
(Some of you may remember that the officials blew a spot in a major way in the plays leading up to the TJ Duckett thievery TD vs UM in 2001. They blew the circumstances around UM's 12-men-on-the-field penalty, resulting in MSU losing a down, a time out, and yardage on a Wolverine penalty).
