Stop me if you've heard this before, but replay officials have robbed a college football team of a win. Virginia Tech fans know that all to well.
What happened on Saturday night in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was something that snatched victory from Western Michigan. Leading No. 16 Michigan 12-7 with nine seconds left, Wolverines quarterback Brice Underwood threw a Hail Mary to the end zone that went through the back of the end zone, where it was touched by a Broncos defender out of bounds with zero on the clock. The play immediately went to video review, and for some reason, there was a second put back on the clock.
Michigan ended up connecting on a second Hail Mary chance when JJ Buchanan hauled in the game's final pass in the end zone for a 13-12 win. That gut-wrenching loss is all too familiar to Virginia Tech fans.
Replay officials hold way too much power in college football
If there is anything that we learned from this, it's that replay officials have too much say in a game that is mostly judged on the field. Two years ago, Virginia Tech was robbed of a stunning win at Miami when Kyron Drones threw his own Hail Mary to the end zone, which Da'Quan Felton caught and went to the ground with control of the ball. The call on the field was a touchdown.
However, it went to replay, and the call was eventually overturned without indisputable video evidence. Of course, the ACC stood behind the overturn that night, and the Big Ten stood behind the overturn on Saturday night. They claimed in both situations that the right calls were made despite what the video evidence told everyone.
You have to give credit where credit is due. Western Michigan coach Lance Taylor took the high road in his postgame press conference. Good for him, but not sure many other coaches would have done the same thing.
For 59 minutes and 59 seconds, Western Michigan outplayed Michigan in Ann Arbor and deserved to win. In fact, some say that they won the game. In the end, they had victory snatched from them in what would have been a program-changing win for the Broncos. Hokies fans this morning feel the pain that is being felt with Western Michigan and Taylor.
If there is anything that can be taken away from another questionable call by replay officials that robbed a team of a win on the road, it is that video replay is something that can't be trusted, regardless of the conference sticking up for the officials. Sadly, it is another case where the officials are the story of an outcome rather than the players on the field. Indisputable needs to be defined better going forward. It feels like there is no more indisputable evidence.
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