Saturday's refs call worst game all season

By Josh Michaels

Assistant Sports Editor

Publication Date: 11/06/2007

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I am appalled at the officiating during the Purdue-Penn State game.

Some of the calls made in the game should be punishable by time in prison. They were crimes against college football.

I'm not sure what forward progress has to do with it, but when a wide receiver catches a ball and then walks out of bounds, the clock should stop. I found that out in elementary school. I'm, of course, referring to junior Selwyn Lymon's catch in the fourth quarter on Purdue's last drive. Instead, the genius officiating crew decided to run the clock and drain time from Purdue. What makes this even worse is the line judge on the side where Lymon caught this made the call.

Second, I realize some of Purdue's late hits were justified, but come on. If one player leaps in the air and the other player leaps for him, it's hard for both players to stop in mid-air and avoid a collision. So do you really need to throw a flag? Another case of this was when senior defensive lineman Ryan Baker was tackling a Penn State player. Baker was pushing the Penn State player when he began to fall. Just as the Penn State's player began his descent, the ref blew his whistle to signal the play dead. As the player fell, Baker was hit with a 15-yard penalty.

Last, but certainly not least, the Jaycen Taylor fumble. I'm not sure which angle the replay official watched, but the one I saw provided by ESPN showed a Taylor arm outstretched with the ball over the goal line. Once again, another missed call that could have changed the game.

These calls are ridiculous and the Big Ten should do something about it. It's difficult to say whether the Boilers would have won if these calls went a different way or not. However, I know for sure that the game would have been a lot more interesting if they did.

I just hope the Big Ten or the NCAA will look into the calls made and either issue an apology on behalf of themselves or the officials.

Josh Michaels is a junior in the College of Liberal Arts. He can be reached via e-mail at sports@purdueexponent.org.