SEC Officials Got It Right In LSU-Florida Game

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Man, I get tired of this every week.

Two teams play a close game.  One team wins.  The other teams’ fans go running for the rulebook to find technicalities and loopholes.

On Saturday, Florida fans were the losers and now they’re the ones screaming about SEC officials.  Florida fans now join Georgia and Tennessee fans in wondering how Les Miles gets all the breaks.

Only, according to the SEC, Miles and the Tigers didn’t get a break.

LSU’s game-winning touchdown was set up by a perfectly called fake field goal attempt.  But the execution was far from perfect.  Holder Derek Helton flipped the ball over his head but it bounced.  Naturally, with Miles being on the sideline, it bounced directly into the arms of kicker Josh Jasper who was supposed to catch the flip on the fly.

Urban Meyer believed the flip was a forward pass, but replays showed the the ball moved parallel to the line of scrimmage.  Florida fans then wondered if the ball should not have been ruled a fumble — since it was not caught on the fly — and therefore marked down at the spot of recovery. 

Here’s what Rule 7.2.2a states:

“When a backward pass or fumble is caught or recovered by an inbounds player, the ball continues in play.  EXCEPTION: On fourth down before a change of team possession, when a Team A fumble is caught or recovered by a Team A player other than the fumbler, the ball is dead.  If the catch or recovery is beyond the spot of the fumble, the ball is returned to the spot of the fumble.  If the catch or recovery is behind the spot of the fumble, the ball remains at the spot of the catch or recovery.”

Aha!  Right?

Wrong.  Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel kept digging through the rulebook to find some exceptions.

Rule 2.10.1 states:

“A fumble is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handling that results in loss of player possession.”

And Rules 2.19.2a distinguishes between a forward and backward pass:

“A forward pass is determined by the point where the ball first strikes the ground, a player, an official or anything beyond the spot of the pass.  All other passes are backward passes.”

According to George, “Because the play was ruled a backward pass, it does not count as a fumble according to rule 2.10.1.  That allowed LSU to advance the ball, and the rule in question does not apply.”

WHAT ELSE DOES THIS MEAN?



It means that fewer and fewer SEC fans can admit defeat and lose gracefully these days. 

Each week, whether a team loses a tight ballgame or a blowout, officials are blamed and rulebooks are examined.

Just lose, would ya? 

Last week, Tennessee fans focused on helmet-tossing rules rather than on the fact that THEY HAD 13 MEN ON THE FIELD against LSU on the game’s key play.  Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and you win that game.

This week, Florida fans are focusing on the definition of a backward pass rather than on the fact their offense couldn’t move the ball all night, their defense allowed LSU to look good for once, and their once perfect special teams FELL ASLEEP ON THE GAME’S KEY PLAY.  Don’t shoot yourself in the foot and you win that game.

Officials will miss a technicality at some point this year and the skies may collapse and the moon may turn to blood.  But until that happens, I can tell you that the rulebook breakdowns are going to get old.  Very old.