The Pac-10 has come back to USC with favorable rulings on several penalty calls in Saturday's Notre Dame game.
On the Irish's fake field goal attempt in the first quarter, Pac-10 officiating coordinator Dave Cutaia has determined that it in fact was an illegal substitution. The player in question was ruled to be among the substitutes leaving the field and stopped about three yards from the sideline, which makes this play illegal. The penalty should have been five yards and a redo of the down, which would have made it 4th-and-7 from the 32-yard line. Instead, Notre Dame used the play to reach the 2-yard line and set up a touchdown one play later.
Also, one of Taylor Mays' personal foul penalties was ruled incorrect, according to Cutaia. On his first penalty in the fourth quarter, the Notre Dame runner was determined to be inbounds when Mays hit him, nullifying the out-of-bounds late-hit call.
Also, on the final drive of the game, Mays' hit on the "defenseless" Notre Dame wide receiver was ruled questionable. Cutaia determined that Mays led with his shoulder, went over top of the receiver and did not contact the receiver above the shoulder. It could have been called a late hit, but not definitively.
On the Irish's fake field goal attempt in the first quarter, Pac-10 officiating coordinator Dave Cutaia has determined that it in fact was an illegal substitution. The player in question was ruled to be among the substitutes leaving the field and stopped about three yards from the sideline, which makes this play illegal. The penalty should have been five yards and a redo of the down, which would have made it 4th-and-7 from the 32-yard line. Instead, Notre Dame used the play to reach the 2-yard line and set up a touchdown one play later.
Also, one of Taylor Mays' personal foul penalties was ruled incorrect, according to Cutaia. On his first penalty in the fourth quarter, the Notre Dame runner was determined to be inbounds when Mays hit him, nullifying the out-of-bounds late-hit call.
Also, on the final drive of the game, Mays' hit on the "defenseless" Notre Dame wide receiver was ruled questionable. Cutaia determined that Mays led with his shoulder, went over top of the receiver and did not contact the receiver above the shoulder. It could have been called a late hit, but not definitively.
Based on this, Notre Dame fans may never complain about the "Bush Push" again.
Hahaha so true.
Any comment on the hit out of bounds on Joe McKnight? He was like five steps out of bounds when the Irish player dove head first into his ankle.
How about Manti Teo flexing his muscles minutes after Everson was flagged for the samething?
How about an apology from the Refs to Joe McKnight! I still can't believe there was no call. The sideline ref should be suspended.
So what comes of this? Do we get our yards back? Do the Irish get 15 yards out of FG range and punt next?
What good does any of this do?
I wish the Pac-10 would do something about this other than say "they were wrong." How about suspending those fools or at least fining them for not knowing the rules (isn't that the ref's #1 task in his job description). That's weak to just come out here and say "Yeah, they were wrong." then do nothing about it.
What about Teo hitting Barkley along the sidelines during the 1st Quarter?
The whole crew were suspended in the Arkansas vs Alabama game. What is wrong with the PAC-10?
I don't really think the refs should be sanctioned, but the conference should keep track of significant errors over the course of the season. Those refs with mistakes over a certain number should have some remedial training or be encouraged to find other employment. It really hurts the game when so many mistakes are made that significantly impact one team. Thank goodness SC played well enough to win despite it all. And I am glad that these mistakes are at least noted. Maybe everyone can learn from them.
First of all, cannot be happier to see the Trojans came out of the officiating disaster with a WIN!
Did the Pac-10 officiating committee issue an official apology to USC? Not only did the Trojans beat ND, but also beat the terrible calls from those refs.
Did they send the same explanations to the Domers? Living in IN, it's sickening to hear locals still whining about the Bush push and talking about the Trojans playing without characters.
Fight on!
Those ref's absolutely MUST be sanctioned. Otherwise nothing will change and the embarrassment of incompetent PAC-10 Officiating will continue. They are incompetent and should NOT be permitted to determine the outcome of games. FIRE THEM. They are either THAT bad or they were consciously BIAS!!! In either case they should be terminated.
The Pac10 is tacitly sanctioning the institutional bias of their referees by allowing this to happen game after game, year after year, with no punishment for the refs. One reason USC only loses to Pac10 teams could be that we regularly have to play against the other team in addition to the refs. Those refs can be pretty hard to beat sometimes.