This Play Against Penn State Still Just Crushes Me(Preston Gothard No Catch)

Alasippi · Oct 30, 2013

I was searching through YouTube for Bama highlights and came across this.
The greatest comeback I've ever seen Bama accomplish thwarted by one of the worst calls I've ever seen.
Down 34-7 late only to come so close. This play is the closest I've ever come to throwing something through the television screen
I literally had to lay down for about two hours. We were ranked number two at the time and undefeated. We never recovered for the rest of the season.
For the youngsters who've never seen it before, what do you think, catch or no catch?
sip

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdmgp96zUkI

Go Bama · Oct 30, 2013

To this day, it remains the worst call I've ever seen. Sickening.

RammerJammer14 · Oct 30, 2013

Literally one of the worst calls ever made. This wasn't some "can you see grass between his toe and the line" catch, he was and entire yard inside the endzone. This is why, overall, instant replay is a good thing.

selmaborntidefan · Oct 30, 2013

I think the notion that this caused us to lose other games is a bit absurd. That was a team heavy with experience.

But the call was even more absurd, and if I'm not mistaken, the red was a relative of a Penn State player. I have had several Penn St fans admit to me it was a bogus call & the worst they ever saw.

That said, we got another play and failed to execute. Can't blame anybody but us for that.

TideEngineer08 · Oct 30, 2013

Oh it was definitely a catch. Instant replay would have come in handy back then.

TIDE-HSV · Oct 30, 2013

Must be an off-week...

Jordan54 · Oct 30, 2013

Wasn't it found later that the official who made the call, had a connection to Penn State from the team that lost in the 1979 Sugar Bowl? I believe we were undefeated at the time.

Alasippi · Oct 30, 2013

TIDE-HSV said:
Must be an off-week...

indeed

westide · Oct 30, 2013

My blood pressure shot up just from watching that again. If the proper call had been made I believe that would have been one of the greatest comebacks in Alabama history. What really angered me was the fact that the one who made the call was the uncle of the fullback we had stopped on the goal line in the national championship game. Thankfully, today we have the instant replay and review. I enjoyed the 1989 game when the Penn St. kicker slipped on an apparent easy game winning field goal. Supposedly, Paterno had wet the field thinking that would offset the speed of Bama. That wet field came back to bite them.

Jordan54 · Oct 30, 2013

TideEngineer08 said:
Oh it was definitely a catch. Instant replay would have come in handy back then.

And at Auburn in 1995.

Alasippi · Oct 30, 2013

selmaborntidefan said:
I think the notion that this caused us to lose other games is a bit absurd. That was a team heavy with experience.

But the call was even more absurd, and if I'm not mistaken, the red was a relative of a Penn State player. I have had several Penn St fans admit to me it was a bogus call & the worst they ever saw.

That said, we got another play and failed to execute. Can't blame anybody but us for that.

Losing that game the way we did totally destroyed our momentum. We never even resembled the same team for the rest of the season.

crimsonaudio · Oct 30, 2013

Go Bama said:
To this day, it remains the worst call I've ever seen. Sickening.

It's a terrible call, admitted, but the no-call on the most obvious pass interference play ever in the EZ against LSU which resulted in an interception is the worst call I've ever seen, to this day. There's no way you could ever convince me that ref wasn't bought and paid for.

theballguy · Oct 30, 2013

I'll never understand the call. Dunno why this ref was not dismissed from the game of college football afterwards.

Special K · Oct 30, 2013

crimsonaudio said:
It's a terrible call, admitted, but the no-call on the most obvious pass interference play ever in the EZ against LSU which resulted in an interception is the worst call I've ever seen, to this day. There's no way you could ever convince me that ref wasn't bought and paid for.

Agreed, probably the worst I've ever seen. That Penn State game is right up there, though. At least Shula argued on the LSU call. Perkins just stood there and took it against Penn St, that griped me almost as much as the bad call.

imauafan · Oct 30, 2013

I googled trying to find information about a very bad call that I remember for a UCLA-Nebraska game back in the 80's and the only information I could find was something that I posted on this forum over 3 years ago:

Link

TUSKtimes · Oct 30, 2013

Special K said:
Agreed, probably the worst I've ever seen. That Penn State game is right up there, though. At least Shula argued on the LSU call. Perkins just stood there and took it against Penn St, that griped me almost as much as the bad call.

Perkins let her rip in the press, but JoePa basically told him to quit crying. JoePa was getting owned by Bama in the series and the desperation was showing. Next to the Notre Dame in the NC, that one left a mark.

rolltideallday · Oct 30, 2013

selmaborntidefan said:
I think the notion that this caused us to lose other games is a bit absurd. That was a team heavy with experience.

But the call was even more absurd, and if I'm not mistaken, the red was a relative of a Penn State player. I have had several Penn St fans admit to me it was a bogus call & the worst they ever saw.

That said, we got another play and failed to execute. Can't blame anybody but us for that.

But we executed a play to get the game winning touchdown and had it taken away on a clearly terrible call. If I hit a half court shot to win a car but they say it didn't count because they weren't looking but give me another chance, that doesn't make it my fault for not hitting the next shot.

legba · Oct 30, 2013

I can never recall what the connection is\was , but one of the REFs had some Penn St connection. I don't think it was the one waving his arms. Still my dad and I get hot talking about that play

skrayper77 · Oct 30, 2013

Jordan54 said:
And at Auburn in 1995.

My memory is terrible. What happened that year?

twofbyc · Oct 30, 2013

IIRC, Pat Haden was calling the game, and even he said outright, "That was a touchdown." And that was the first time that I can ever remember an announcer actually contradicting a call on the field, straight up. I'm sure it happened before somewhere, but I don't ever remember hearing it said like that before then.

This Play Against Penn State Still Just Crushes Me(Preston Gothard No Catch)

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