Whether we use the NFL phrase, two-minute warning or the college football phrase, two-minute timeout, it serves many functions. One such function is, if there’s a dispute on the play immediately before it, the break provides plenty of time to figure out if there should be a review. But in Friday night’s game between Stanford and Syracuse, that did not happen.
And Anish Shroff, calling the game for ESPN, was understandably miffed.
The play in question was a four-yard run from Stanford running back Chris Davis Jr., which brought the game to the two-minute timeout. When ESPN returned from its commercial break, both teams were lined up on the field, ready for the Cardinal’s upcoming second-and-six. Only, before the ball was snapped, it was announced that Davis’ run would go under review.
Shroff made no effort to hide how bad the timing was.
“I don’t understand that because you had the two-minute timeout, you had all this time,” Shroff said. “And now you make the announcement. We had the entire commercial break to do this.”
“It could have been reviewed and over,” analyst Andre Ware added.
“We would have had an answer,” said Shroff.
Anish Shroff did not care for the timing of this review announcement — and it’s tough to argue.
“I don’t understand that because you had the two-minute timeout, you had all this time. And NOW you make the announcement. We had the entire commercial break to do this.” pic.twitter.com/KNjUDRsAJg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 21, 2024
Shroff and Ware then looked at the play that was being reviewed. Davis did lose the ball. The question was, did he lose the ball before or after he hit the ground?
It was eventually determined that the ruling of Davis being down by contact would stand — something both Shroff and Ware agreed with. Nevertheless, the review was certainly worthwhile. But before the game resumed, Shroff again criticized the timing of the review announcement.
“Fran Brown was all over the officials during the break,” Shroff said of the Syracuse coach. “But again, you wait until after everybody’s ready. There’s this impetus to speed things up and get games in a tidy window. That doesn’t help.”
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
