The officiating crew for Saturday afternoon’s college football game between Clemson and Pittsburgh did not have a good day. Sean McDonough, calling the game on ESPN, did not hesitate to call the officials out.
With the game tied at 17 late in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh quarterback Nate Yarnell was sacked by Clemson’s Dee Crayton. It was an unusual-looking sack, though, as Yarnell fell to the ground well after he was contacted by Crayton. So, what happened? Crayton hit Yarnell in the head as he leaped at the quarterback. Only, no flag was thrown.
“That is a massive hit right to the head of a quarterback that looks like he’s in a defenseless position,” analyst Greg McElroy said. “I’m surprised they’re not taking a look at this. Because is that a launch? Is that forcible contact to the head or neck area of a defenseless? I mean, this could potentially be targeting. This could be lots of things.”
Rules analyst Matt Austin agreed, saying “You don’t see a hit like this as targeting very often, but it certainly could be.”
“At the very least, Matt, shouldn’t it be a penalty of something?” McDonough asked.
After Austin affirmed that it should have been some kind of penalty, McDonough went off.
“I don’t know how they missed that,” he said. “I mean, it’s clear as a bell to everybody in the stadium…it’s just outrageous that there’s no flag on that play.”
The issues with the officials continued on this play.
“I DON’T KNOW HOW THEY MISSED THAT. I MEAN, IT’S CLEAR AS A BELL TO EVERYBODY IN THE STADIUM.” pic.twitter.com/PAwm8Z7Fhp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 16, 2024
McDonough then noticed that there was a flag on the field, which had been thrown late. The referee then announced that “After discussion” a personal foul for unnecessary roughness was being called.
And while that was the correct call, that only set McDonough off further.
“After discussion. After we look up and see it on the replay board and realize we missed it, we drop the flag. We now have officiating off scoreboards in stadiums. You remember how mad Kirby Smart was in a game down in Texas — and we have more of the same here.”
Only, minutes later, the flag did come.
“After discussion. After we look up and see it on the replay board and realize we missed it, we drop the flag. We now have officiating off scoreboards in stadiums.” pic.twitter.com/sQQLoiPH9B
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 16, 2024
He continued.
“Let me ask Matt this question, Matt, couldn’t the replay booth have helped the officials on the field by saying, ‘We are initiating a review for targeting’?” McDonough asked.
“Well they certainly could have,” Austin said. “But they can’t throw a flag from the booth for just a personal foul.”
“But can they stop it for targeting?” McDonough said.
“Yes, they can,” Austin confirmed.
“OK, but they didn’t even do that,” McDonough replied.
“No, they did not,” Austin said. “And let me just say, as far as looking at the JumboTron, somebody may have peaked up. But also, there’s eight officials on the field. Somebody who’s a long ways away may have seen the action. It’s hard to throw a flag from the field judge position on a roughing the passer.”
“But five minutes later, Matt? With all due respect, that flag appeared minutes later,” McDonough said.
“I agree,” Austin said. “But stranger things have happened on the football field.”
Even if the right calls were ultimately made, the sequence was not handled well by the officials. NBC rules analyst Terry McAulay said as much on X (formerly Twitter).
Complete chaos. Obvious missed unnecessary roughness foul. Coach on the field arguing officiating decision is not penalized. Unnecessary roughness foul eventually called minutes later during injury timeout.
None of this is acceptable. https://t.co/0gT1zqBT54
— Terry McAulay (@tjmcaulay) November 16, 2024
It did not help that this came just minutes after a roughing the passer penalty which McDonough, McElroy and Austin all disagreed with.
Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Matt Austin all strongly disagreed with this roughing the passer call. pic.twitter.com/FV9I2fZt1k
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 16, 2024
“That’s football,” McDonough said. “And if that’s the rule, change the rule back.”
[Photo Credit: ESPN]