The play where the LSU receiver dropped the ball before entering the end zone...

[CraigD]

I’ve seen so many posts and comments about display I thought it deserved it own thread.

The receiver clearly dropped the ball before crossing the goal line. There seems to be no doubt about that. What a bonehead move!

The ball did not go out of bounds but took an odd kick to the right and stayed in the field of play. At this point the play was not yet dead. The officials did not blow it there, either. Good on them.

What many people seem to not realize is that at this point the bowl still alive, and a couple of seconds later he LSU player picked up the ball and stepped in to the Endzone. At that point it was a touchdown for LSU. The receiver did not get the touchdown, the player that picked up the ball and stepped into the end zone scored a touchdown.

There was no bad call on this play the refs did not miss anything. The review officials did not miss anything. It was a legitimate touchdown by LSU on the fumble recovery.

We shouldn’t have let the receiver be that wide open in the first place and none of this would’ve happened, but there was no bad call. It was a legit TD on the fumble recovery. Have a great day and Roll Tide!

EDIT: I guess I don’t know for certain that the refs on the field didn’t make a mistake initially. I also am aware that someone posted in the post game thread that the ball hit the pylon. I don’t recall noticing that but will have to check that out.

 

[B1GTide]

 

[Crimson1967]

One of our players should have grabbed the ball. That’s on them and I hope our coaches bring it up to them.

No, it didn’t matter in the end but it could have.

 

[Bamaro]

The CBS replay guy mentioned something about how much time the ball sat there. Maybe somebody can explain.

 

[TideEngineer08]

I don’t believe the ball hit the pylon. It dropped inside the 1 yard line and bounced to the right about a yard into the end zone. The next player to touch the ball was the other LSU player who picked it up. TD, LSU. Pretty cut and dry after the fact.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I’ve seen so many posts and comments about display I thought it deserved it own thread.

The receiver clearly dropped the ball before crossing the goal line. There seems to be no doubt about that. What a bonehead move!

The ball did not go out of bounds but took an odd kick to the right and stayed in the field of play. At this point the play was not yet dead. The officials did not blow it there, either. Good on them.

What many people seem to not realize is that at this point the bowl still alive, and a couple of seconds later he LSU player picked up the ball and stepped in to the Endzone. At that point it was a touchdown for LSU. The receiver did not get the touchdown, the player that picked up the ball and stepped into the end zone scored a touchdown.

There was no bad call on this play the refs did not miss anything. The review officials did not miss anything. It was a legitimate touchdown by LSU on the fumble recovery.

We shouldn’t have let the receiver be that wide open in the first place and none of this would’ve happened, but there was no bad call. It was a legit TD on the fumble recovery. Have a great day and Roll Tide!

EDIT: I guess I don’t know for certain that the refs on the field didn’t make a mistake initially. I also am aware that someone posted in the post game thread that the ball hit the pylon. I don’t recall noticing that but will have to check that out.

I have no problem with your citation of the facts, but here's one thing that will tell us if they REALLY blew the play or not: did the officials signal touchdown when he crossed?

If they DID signal touchdown, they blew the call, plain and simple. Because that alone would be reason for the Alabama receiver to not pick up the ball and run the other way - he could be called for delay of game potentially.


Whether it was a blown call or not depends entirely on the underlined question above.

 

[CraigD]

The CBS replay guy mentioned something about how much time the ball sat there. Maybe somebody can explain.

What they were talking about is that the replay rule about a fumble says that in order for the outcome of a fumble to be overturned by the replay officials there has to be a clear and immediate recovery. It’s the “immediate” part of this rule that they were addressing. They were asking the broadcast official whether or not the ball sat there too long for it to be considered an immediate recovery. He didn’t think so.

 

[CraigD]

I have no problem with your citation of the facts, but here's one thing that will tell us if they REALLY blew the play or not: did the officials signal touchdown when he crossed?

If they DID signal touchdown, they blew the call, plain and simple. Because that alone would be reason for the Alabama receiver to not pick up the ball and run the other way - he could be called for delay of game potentially.


Whether it was a blown call or not depends entirely on the underlined question above.

I don’t disagree with this, Selma. I’m not a trained official but I spotted it in real time. I was already texting my buddies that he maybe didn’t cross the goal line with the ball before they started talking about it on the broadcast.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

What they are talking about is that the replay rule about a fumble says that in order for the outcome of a fumble to be overturned by the replay officials, there has to be a clear and immediate recovery. It’s the “immediate” part of this rule that they were addressing. They were asking the broadcast official whether or not the ball sat there too long for it to be considered an immediate recovery. He didn’t think so.

Yeah, I'm not sure I agree with his assessment of that, but in the end it's "no harm, no foul."

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Don’t disagree with this, Selma. I’m not a trained official but I spotted it in real time. I was already texting my buddies that he maybe didn’t cross the goal line with the ball before they started talking about it on the broadcast.

What's funny is when the guy was wide open, I turned to take a sip and missed the initial drop. But I was getting texts saying, "I don't think he scored!"

Then I got angry.
Then I figured that since the SEC offices are in Birmingham, we'd get the call like always.

 

[BamaFanatJSU]

If the ball sitting dead in the end zone for nearly three seconds before being scooped up by a trailing LSU player who was 15 yards behind the play constitutes a "clear and immediate recovery", then Arkansas should be up in arms about the SEC's denial of their immediate recovery on the Barn's "spike" earlier this year.

 

[CB4]

@selmaborntidefan brings up the key question: when the LSU receivers crossed the goal line without the ball, did an official signal the touchdown? If so, the ball is dead at that point, therefore there cannot be a “clear immediate recovery”.

 

[Crimson1967]

I just watched a few videos of it on YouTube and I couldn’t see any signals from an official after the receiver dropped the ball. But the LSU player did run up quickly and grab the ball.

However, our defender was right there and could have at least downed the ball in the end zone. Zero risk with high reward.

 

[TexasBama]

I have no problem with your citation of the facts, but here's one thing that will tell us if they REALLY blew the play or not: did the officials signal touchdown when he crossed?

If they DID signal touchdown, they blew the call, plain and simple. Because that alone would be reason for the Alabama receiver to not pick up the ball and run the other way - he could be called for delay of game potentially.


Whether it was a blown call or not depends entirely on the underlined question above.

The one replay they showed, where the LSU player picked up the ball, you could see the ref in the shot and he signaled TD AFTER the guy picked up the ball and scored. Don’t know about the other refs.

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

I have no problem with your citation of the facts, but here's one thing that will tell us if they REALLY blew the play or not: did the officials signal touchdown when he crossed?

The official positioned on the goal line signaled nothing until the second LSU player recovered the ball. Like a baseball home plate umpire not immediately making a call at the plate when the runner misses home but the catcher also misses the tag, he was waiting to see what happened next. You can clearly see it on the pylon cam. Great officiating on this play.

 

[JustNeedMe81]

I’ve seen so many posts and comments about display I thought it deserved it own thread.

The receiver clearly dropped the ball before crossing the goal line. There seems to be no doubt about that. What a bonehead move!

The ball did not go out of bounds but took an odd kick to the right and stayed in the field of play. At this point the play was not yet dead. The officials did not blow it there, either. Good on them.

What many people seem to not realize is that at this point the bowl still alive, and a couple of seconds later he LSU player picked up the ball and stepped in to the Endzone. At that point it was a touchdown for LSU. The receiver did not get the touchdown, the player that picked up the ball and stepped into the end zone scored a touchdown.

There was no bad call on this play the refs did not miss anything. The review officials did not miss anything. It was a legitimate touchdown by LSU on the fumble recovery.

We shouldn’t have let the receiver be that wide open in the first place and none of this would’ve happened, but there was no bad call. It was a legit TD on the fumble recovery. Have a great day and Roll Tide!

EDIT: I guess I don’t know for certain that the refs on the field didn’t make a mistake initially. I also am aware that someone posted in the post game thread that the ball hit the pylon. I don’t recall noticing that but will have to check that out.

 

[RT27]

The refs did good they missed 2 calls one for us one for LSU and they let the guys play. Saw holding on receivers on both sides and they let the small ones ride so I have no issue at all. Not like when aubs hold guys and get away with it and touch their guys and flags fly LOL. Over all well reffed game in my eyes.

 

[CraigD]

The refs did good they missed 2 calls one for us one for LSU and they let the guys play. Saw holding on receivers on both sides and they let the small ones ride so I have no issue at all. Not like when aubs hold guys and get away with it and touch their guys and flags fly LOL. Over all well reffed game in my eyes.

I also like the fact that they didn’t throw flags immediately when the game started to get a little chippy. They understood the implications if they were to get crazy with those sorts of calls. Instead they talked to the players and kept order without throwing flags for unsportsmanlike conduct

 

[AlexanderFan]

I have no problem with your citation of the facts, but here's one thing that will tell us if they REALLY blew the play or not: did the officials signal touchdown when he crossed?

If they DID signal touchdown, they blew the call, plain and simple. Because that alone would be reason for the Alabama receiver to not pick up the ball and run the other way - he could be called for delay of game potentially.


Whether it was a blown call or not depends entirely on the underlined question above.

I came to ask if signaling touchdown is synonymous with blowing the whistle on another play. If that’s the case we go to what happened in the Arkansas game? No clear recovery in a reasonable time, so what would happen?

 

[TIDE-HSV]

I came to ask if signaling touchdown is synonymous with blowing the whistle on another play. If that’s the case we go to what happened in the Arkansas game? No clear recovery in a reasonable time, so what would happen?

TBF, I've been wondering about the same. I don't think they are. Many times, the ball is blown dead and there's quite a lag before the officials confer and signal TD. How long does a ball have to sit before it automatically becomes "dead" to play?