SEC replay official not to blame

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By Christopher Gordy

There has been a lot of discussion this season of how bad the officials in the SEC have performed. From missed calls, to questionable calls, to instant replay, there has been a lot of speculation of even hidden conspiracies. But the biggest flub this season (in fan's eyes), was the missed interception in the LSU-Alabama game. The refs on the field called Patrick Peterson's snag as an incomplete pass. The play then went up to the booth for review; unfortunately, it would not be overturned because of how the rules are established.

According to the NCAA college football handbook, it is not the instant replay official's job to get the call right. Crazy, right? Based on Rule 12 of the handbook, in a section entitled Instant Replay, the NCAA philosophy is stated as, "the instant replay process operates under the fundamental assumption that the ruling on the field is correct. The replay official may reverse a ruling if and only if the video evidence convinces him beyond all doubt that the ruling was incorrect. Without such indisputable video evidence, the replay official must allow the ruling to stand."

So even though Peterson's interception was a close play, it was not indisputable beyond all doubt. Therefore, the replay official simply deferred to the call on the field because that is what the rule tells him. He was just doing his job. The referees on the field got the call wrong. Had they called it an interception to begin with, the booth would have had to side with the call on the field. This is where the problem lies.

The rule should be that the man in the instant replay booth's responsibility is to get the call right, no matter what. Telling him he must side with the refs is an injustice to the teams on the field. Again, in the rulebook, Section 7 entitled "Reversing an On-Field Ruling" states "to reverse an on-field ruling, the replay official must be convinced beyond all doubt by indisputable video evidence through one or more video replays." Peterson's play was a close one; therefore, ruled incomplete.

At his weekly press conference last week, Miles addressed the call by saying that he believed the referees were not in a position to make the call. Miles said the referees were blocked, both by Peterson's back and Julio Jones to see the catch and make the right call. Miles followed by saying, "What has to happen is it turns to the instant replay booth, and it's an interesting thing that's going on in college football across the board. I think the view is that if it is not irrefutable evidence, so the instant replay man is given the instruction, and not exactly these terms but to defend and to defer to the call on the field."

While Miles said he thought the referees should have turned to the instant replay booth for help, he understood why the call was made the way it was made. The replay officials deferred to the call on the field. And I encourage Mike Slive and the SEC officials to reconsider this rule. This is not what instant replay should be used for. Instant replay should be used to get a call right. Referees are human and they sometimes make mistakes. Video evidence cannot be faulted.

I hope that in the offseason, Slive and the other higher-ups in the SEC offices (in Alabama no less), reconsider this rule and change the responsibility of the replay official to not just "defer to the call on the field" but to "make the correct ruling."

Originally Published: Issue 824 - November 18, 2009

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