CFB BAD BEATS / LUCKY WINS

Many years ago I made this comment on my national radio show, "football officials are on the field to INSURE that the players DO NOT decide the outcome of the game!". At the time I made that comment tongue-in-cheek but after two decades in this business, I'm not so sure my statement doesn't have a certain amount of truth in it....

Anyone who watched the ending of the Florida-Tennessee game last Saturday night, has to be shaking their heads at the ALMOST UNBELIEVABLE call made by one of the officials near the end of that game. Florida led 28-27 and had the ball with about one minute left in the game. On third and short the Gators were stuffed at their own 37-yard but downfield (right in front of an official!) a Tennessee DB and a Florida WR were got involved in a shoving match. The Tennessee DB clearly pushed first and the Florida WR retaliated. Really it was no-harm, no-foul but at worst, off-setting penalties. INCREDIBLY, the official ruled that Florida was to receive a 15-yard penalty and the Gators were forced to punt from their 22-yard line, not their 37. You know the rest, as the 15-yard penalty gave Tennessee the field position it needed to win the game on a last-second field goal!...

There were also mistakes made regarding the clock at the end but I won't even go there! Florida was a three-point underdog so the call didn't decide the pointspread outcome but it's unlikely that makes Ron Zook and his Gators feel any better, nor does the SEC's admission this week that the officiating crew erred! On to the pointspread ups-and-downs of last Saturday....

Houston head coach Art Briles showed some mercy at the end of the Cougars' 35-21 win over Army last Saturday night. Houston dominated the stats outgaining Army 647-337 in yards and 32-13 in FDs. The Cougars however failed to convert on numerous scoring opportunities and the 15-point cadets somehow managed to tie the game at 21-all in the fourth quarter. Houston regrouped and took a 14-point lead but then with a chance late in the game to increase the final margin, took a knee. Army owns the nation's longest current losing streak at 17 straight but did get the 'cover'....

That same kind of restraint was not shown by Pete Carroll (USC) or Terry Heppner (Miami-Oh) in their games. USC was held scoreless in the first quarter for the first time in nearly two years and Carroll was not about to let-up once his team got rolling. USC scored three TDs in the fourth quarter against BYU, the last coming with just 2:36 remaining in the game. One play earlier, with USC leading 35-10 as a 26 1/2-point favorite, the Trojans went for it on a fourth-and-one play from the BYU five-yard line. Of course if Carroll had kicked a field goal, people would have been 'crying' he was just trying to cover the pointspread! He goes for it and one play later scores a TD, so now he's running it up! As the saying goes, "you can't win for losing"....

My alma mater Ohio U (although school administrators steadfastly claim I never attended!), found themselves on the short-end of a late score for the second straight week! Playing at hated-rival Miami-Ohio, the Bobcats were outplayed for most of the game but climbed to within 33-20 with just over five minutes left (Ohio was an 18-point underdog). Miami drove down the field and faced a fourth-and-10 from the Ohio 23. In this case a field goal would NOT have covered the spread, so Miami's 23-yard TD pass with 37 seconds remaining (final: Miami 40-20!) did change the pointspread outcome....

Speaking of teams that seem to regularly make this column, New Mexico is back! The Lobos outplayed Washington State back on 9/3 but lost a heart-breaker late, 21-17, as a three-point underdog. New Mexico was totally dominated by Texas Tech two weeks ago (495-315 in yards and 32-17 in FDs) but somehow won outright 27-24, as four-point underdogs. Again last Saturday, New Mexico found a way to cover vs Oregon State despite gaining just 10 FDs and a total of 114 yards. Oregon State led 14-0 and was about to score again, when QB Derek Anderson was sacked. He fumbled as well and New Mexico took it 70 yards for a TD! It was New Mexico's only score of the game and Oregon State missed two field goals of 43 and 34 yards (not by LSU-culprit Serna but by his replacement!) plus had two penalties stall scoring-drives in the second half. The Beavers' 17-7 win was not good enough to cover the two-TD spread!...

Virginia Tech closed a 30-point favorite over Duke last Saturday. The Blue Devils scored on their first possession however to lead 7-0 and Tech bettors had a steep mountain to climb. Over its next 13 possessions however, Duke was forced into eight three-and-out drives and had two drives stopped by interceptions, scoring just three more points. Virginia Tech finally came all the way back, to lead 41-10 with just under six minutes to go. Duke then put together one last drive, reaching the Hokie 35-yard line and facing a fourth-and-11. Duke then converted on a 35-yard TD pass in which the receiver was WIDE OPEN! Duke bettors had it all the way, as the final score was 41-17!...

Penn State eventually covered vs Central Florida last Saturday but it was far from easy! The Nittany Lions outgained the Golden Knights 524 yards to 181 but SIX Penn State turnovers almost did it Penn State backers that were laying anywhere from 21 to 23 1/2 points! UCF's two first-half field goals came on drives that totaled 10 and five yards, the second of which followed a 59-yard interception return when Penn State was about to up 28-3. UCF's only TD of the game came on a 54-yard punt return with just 7:41 remaining. That score made it 30-13 and looked as if it had sealed the fate of all Penn State backers. Joe Pa had one last drive in him though, as Penn State's final drive was kept alive first by a roughing-the-punter penalty on UCF and then a fourth-and-four conversion with just about one minute left. On the very next play, Penn State scored on a 22-yard TD run with just 44 seconds left. The 24-point margin (37-13) was 'just enough'!...