Can We Talk About SEC Officiating for a Moment?

[ShotgunDawg]

Officiating didn't cost us the game last night and I'm not here to debate holding calls, although those are being missed in plethora.

What I'm here to complain about is the mechanics of replay or the lack there of. The reversal of the onside kick last night and non replaying a clear fumble by Arkansas is absolutely bush league and egregious mistakes. Again, this isn't about judgement calls, this is about is about the mechanics and objectivity of officiating.

I can't figure out why the SEC can't get this right. If this were a Bama game, would more attention have been paid to this?

Why does it seem like when I watch an NFL game or CBS 2:30 game so much more time and attention to detail is paid to these calls? Why was our game different than that last night?

This has nothing to do with why we lost but I just can't understand how an organization that is making this type of money can't find a competent process and people,with attention to detail and pride in their jobs, handle the replay department. It is absolutely embarrassing to see how the attention to detail on these types of calls differs depending on what's at stake in the game. Why can't they just handle everything the same?

This IMO is a sign an awful leadership in the SEC office. Inexcusable.

[shoeless joe]

I would say that the ludacris onside kick overturn and the no replay on the fumble absolutely impacted the outcome of the game. Now if we didn't suck they wouldn't have mattered but in that game at that time those were huge calls.

On the on side kick, they overturned it faster than any replay I've ever seen. It was like the replay official didn't realize that the view he had wasn't directly down the 45. Absolutely zero indisputable evidence. It was just like the Florida game in 09 when the guy clearly fumbled but we didn't have a look down the line so they wouldn't change it. But in this instance they did change it. We need a clearer deifintion of "indisputable visual evidence". Last nite and the bama 14 overturn were nowhere near what I'd call indisputable.

[starkvegasdawg]

AR is bowl eligible and we're not. Like it or not. Fair or not. The league protects those that will be bringing money and positive press to the conference.

[Dawgsfanalongtime77]

State has never been able to catch breaks. Been some horrible calls this yr but the fact is that the defense is so bad that it just didn't matter to be honest.

[MarketingBully]

Non-holding calls absolutely changed the game. At least on three of those breakaway rushing touchdowns, a hold broke it open. I know you could call holds on every play if you wanted to however if a hold leads to a score you have to call it.

[maroonwhitedawg3ddd]

yeah it Sucks!!!

[RocketDawg]

I would say that the ludacris onside kick overturn and the no replay on the fumble absolutely impacted the outcome of the game. Now if we didn't suck they wouldn't have mattered but in that game at that time those were huge calls.

On the on side kick, they overturned it faster than any replay I've ever seen. It was like the replay official didn't realize that the view he had wasn't directly down the 45. Absolutely zero indisputable evidence. It was just like the Florida game in 09 when the guy clearly fumbled but we didn't have a look down the line so they wouldn't change it. But in this instance they did change it. We need a clearer deifintion of "indisputable visual evidence". Last nite and the bama 14 overturn were nowhere near what I'd call indisputable.

I think the kicker caught the ball before it went 10 yards, so if the initial call had been that way I wouldn't have a problem with it. Even in the replay it looked like he caught it early, but you really couldn't tell for sure because of the angle. It shouldn't have been overturned, but it shouldn't have been called that way to begin with.

[tcdog70]

I think the kicker caught the ball before it went 10 yards, so if the initial call had been that way I wouldn't have a problem with it. Even in the replay it looked like he caught it early, but you really couldn't tell for sure because of the angle. It shouldn't have been overturned, but it shouldn't have been called that way to begin with.

You had a linesman standing on the 45 , ten feet away. He said it went ten yards. But the replay ref looked a bad angle shot and overturned the call on the field, no matter how you look at it, that is complete bullshit.

[sleepy dawg]

Officials are kinda like independent contractors where each conference has their own contracting company they hire to supply their officials for them (this is not exactly right, but its the easiest way to understand it to me). Whoever the head of officiating is for that particular conference, he has 100% control of who his officials are, and which games they officiate... 100%... 1 person...
I won't say there is corruption, but there is certainly a lot of politics that goes on. Among officials, it is commonly known that the SEC is not the best, and usually one of the worst, but they typically have the "biggest" names. The SEC head of officiating has not made it a priority to get quality officials, but rather get officials who have big names, or who have been around a while. When someone says something about one of their officials, they can usually point to the fact that their official has been to x number of bowl games or some other irrelevant stat to back up that they are good, but officiating is not like the sports they officiate. Going to post season for an official is assigned by the head of other heads of officiating with some input from the other heads. There is no direct relationship between a good official and an official going to the post season. It's basically just another decision by 1 person.
Also, being friends with the head of officiating pays dividends if said head of officiating is not completely unbiased. There's a lot of "good ol boy" stuff that goes on.

Now, in basketball, the SEC has made a positive move in the offseason by hiring Mark Whitehead (I posted on this before), but that will take a couple of seasons before the true benefits are noticed b/c he won't just come in and replace all the existing officials, but the bad ones will be phased out and replaced with high caliber officials (which in some cases may mean younger, less proven guys). Football doesn't currently have a light so bright and more bad officiating can be expected for the near future.

[the59dawg]

I thought a crew in the SEC office were making all the reviews. doesn't matter which refs are on the field.

[Maroonthirteen]

Kinda off topic but it was a replayed call. Arkansas two points conversion.....why is it a TD to touch the top of the corner pylon if the pylon is out of bounds? A rhetorical question.

The onside kick....it was clear we caught it early.
The two points...it didn't look like he got in but not definitive evidence to over turn it either.