ESPN: Pac-12 officiating VP explains calls from Oregon-Arizona State game
Nov 4, 2015, 8:50 PM | Updated: Nov 5, 2015, 1:00 pm
Pac-12 vice president of officiating David Coleman told ESPN.com that one controversial replay review from Arizona State’s 61-55 loss to Oregon in triple overtime was called correctly. Another initial call wasn’t but couldn’t be reviewed.
The first one is the biggie. Oregon’s game-winning touchdown from quarterback Vernon Adams to Bralon Addison was called inbounds, but a review couldn’t overturn the call.
Addison’s left heel appeared to come down inbounds, but his toe came down out of bounds — the rulebook says that would be out. But Coleman told ESPN that referees actually saw Addison’s right foot come down inbounds before the toe was out, and reviews didn’t show a conclusive angle to overturn the initial call.
“It was tough to see the right foot,” Coleman said. “We couldn’t confirm that because it was a grass field.”
Grass, in this case, is notable because if the play were to have occurred on an artificial surface, rubber pellets likely would have made it possible to make a definitive conclusion.
An earlier missed call could have changed the outcome as well. ASU led by a touchdown and was driving at midfield when quarterback Mike Bercovici, perhaps thinking he had a free play because an Oregon linebacker was offsides, threw an interception to Tyree Robinson. Coleman admitted that Oregon was actually offsides on the play, but such a call is not able to be reviewed.
“Agree. Offside on the defense should have been called,” Coleman told ESPN. “The defender did not get out of the neutral zone before the ball was snapped.”
The Ducks would get the ball off the pick and eventually force overtime.
