However, Oklahoma State has the opportunity to appeal CMU to change the decision. It will be interested to see how the College Football Playoff selection committee views this result later on in the season.
Advertisement
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy doesn’t like what happened to the Cowboys on Saturday.
“We have to find a way to move the ball on the ground some, in order to set up everything else we do”, Gundy said.
For at least Monday, that’s a hard task.
After an intentional grounding penalty on Oklahoma State gave the Chippewas one last untimed play from midfield, Cooper Rush lofted up a Hail Mary pass that hit Kroll just inside the 10.
The dust is finally starting to settle after the firestorm surrounding the ending to Saturday’s Oklahoma State game against Central Michigan inside Boone Pickens Stadium.
The MAC will suspend all eight members of the officiating crew from Saturday for two games, which will “begin immediately”.
“That’s what you want to have happen”, he said.
Oklahoma State started the game appearing as if it would cruise to victory, jumping out to a 14-0 lead with two quick touchdowns late in the first quarter. “We can’t really put it all on the officiating crew because to me it wasn’t supposed to be that close when it comes to being a defensive player”.
There’s more history, as ESPN Stats & Information noted Oklahoma State entered play on Saturday with the Big 12’s best record against opponents not ranked in AP Top 25 (47-5). “You use our officials or you don’t sign the contracts”. As confirmed later by rules officials, the officiating crew should not have awarded an untimed down due to the penalty being a loss-of-down penalty on the final play.
Asked on Monday’s Big 12 teleconference if he would support a measure that required a Big 12 officiating crew in similar matchups in the future, Gundy said: “You’re 100 percent correct”. There can be no reversal of the outcome by a higher authority.
Both the MAC officiating crew and the two-person Big 12 instant replay unit, which didn’t catch the mistake, were suspended two games for the error.
Still, Miami-Duke could have been considered an exercise in bad judgment – human error – by the replay crew. “It has been discussed in the past”.
Officials for nonconference games are determined by the schools as part of a contractual agreement. “I think we thought that a year ago (a 24-13 home loss to the Coweboys) we had a chance, we were there and we thought we let one slip away and I think it just shows how we’ve progressed that we were able to go down to their place, a hostile environment, and come away with the win”. Article 3b of the NCAA rulebook states: When the referee declares that the game is ended, the score is final.
Advertisement
Ohio State and MI are inching closer to the top of the Associated Press top 25 poll.
