In an interesting move, Pac 10 Head of Officiating Dave Cutaia has eschewed the easy road of admonishing the terrible replay reversal made in the Notre Dame-Stanford game and instead has elected to rewrite the rules of replay. Cutaia sent out an e-mail that explained the justification for the Pac 10 replay crew's unbelievable ruling:
The replay official felt he had a shot that showed the point of the ball hit the ground... This is basically a judgment call on his part, as an on-field official might judge defensive pass interference.
And with one fell swoop of the... well, keyboard, I guess... the Pac 10 has completely changed its benchmark for overturning plays with instant replay. I guess it's time for them to update their website, which still has the outdated standards for video reversal... you know, "indisputable video evidence" and whatnot. The site needs to be updated to reflect the new, completely opposite standard: "having a good feeling" and "making a judgment call irrespective of video evidence".
All sarcasm aside, Cutaia, in what appears to be an attempt to defend the video official's ruling, has essentially publicly admitted that they made a mistake. Maybe he should have a chat with Verle Sorgen, the Head of Replay Officiating in the Pac 10. Sorgen, I'm sure you'll remember, was fired from Cutaia's job after the Oregon-Oklahoma replay fiasco last year and was admonished by Pac 10 commish Tom Hansen for his comments after the Oregon State-Washington replay disaster of two weeks ago.
Harbaugh did not address the print media after the Notre Dame game and thought he needed to "clarify" the circumstances that led to Pritchard being removed from the game with a head injury and then returning for a series in the fourth quarter.
Pritchard, according to Harbaugh, was assessed by the team's medical personnel on the sidelines after the violent hit by Notre Dame's Terrail Lambert after a 19-yard rush. Harbaugh said Pritchard was cleared to return to the game in the fourth quarter before Ostrander was hit in the elbow and temporarily lost feeling in three fingers on his throwing hand.
"There's a series of tests for anybody who has had concussion-like symptoms on the sidelines," Harbaugh said. "That's not the call of Tavita or the coaches. That's a medical decision by our doctors.
"He was asked a series of questions - the NFL and college football have an evaluation that takes place after a hit - and he passed that test. The doctors made the decision about two plays before T.C. got hit on the elbow, confirming that (Pritchard) was available to go back in."
Prior to that point, the team doctors had hidden Pritchard's helmet from him to keep him off the field following the helmet-to-helmet hit. Pritchard did get his helmet back, and got back into the game.
At least, according to the Pac 10 replay officials. I've watched this play a hundred times and still for the life of me cannot figure out what the replay official was thinking. For those of you who didn't see Notre Dame's "thrilling" 21-14 victory over Stanford, this play came in the third quarter. Jimmy Clausen sailed a deep pass way over the head of David Grimes, who improbably accelerated into the end zone and made an absolutely incredible diving catch in the end zone. The refs on the field (Big East refs, for what it's worth) signaled for a touchdown, but for good measure decided to let the folks upstairs have a look. Here's what they saw (remember, replay officials can only look at the camera angles provided to the TV station, so there was no secret reverse angle):
The decision? Indisputable video evidence showed that this was not a catch. Actually, that wasn't the call. The replay officials reversed the call and later explained that because the ball moved after Grimes' hand hit the ground, the only logical inference to be drawn is that the ball hit the ground. Now, I'm no engineer, but I'm fairly sure that the energy from a hand hitting the ground can transfer through the hand and make the ball move, even if the ball doesn't impact the ground. Regardless, though, the standard for overturning the call on the field is "indisputable video evidence", not "a logical argument can conceivably be constructed explaining a set of circumstances where the call on the field was incorrect."
Keep in mind, too, that this isn't the first documented disaster by Pac 10 replay reviews. Two weeks ago, this unspeakably bad call in the UW-OSU game earned the replay officials a one-game suspension, and the Oregon-Oklahoma onside kick call remains eternally puzzling. Okay, bad calls are a part of the game, but when year in and year out, one set of replay officials consistently sets the benchmark for incompetence, it might be time to have a look at what's going on.
To be fair, it seems Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh does not like doing media stuff after games. So it may not be fair to say he was ducking the media specifically to avoid being questioned for a lot of his decisions after losing to Notre Dame.
There were many questions after this nightmarish loss - the Cardinal's fourth in a row - but Coach Jim Harbaugh didn't stick around to answer them. He left the locker room while his ashen-faced players were being interviewed. (He did do his contractually obligated radio show).
So, if you're wondering about Harbaugh's decision to send kicker Derek Belch out for four field-goal attempts despite a prolonged slump? (Belch missed all four).
Or the status for this week's Big Game of quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who was sidelined in the third quarter after getting blasted in the head and later told reporters that his head still hurt?
How about why he put Pritchard back in the game after that? Yes, Ostrander was already hurt, but putting a player who took a severe hit to the skull, is just dangerous. Surely he didn't carry just two QBs, if the backup was already hurt.
Harbaugh even hung out the Stanford Athletic Department which put out quotes from players and even Notre Dame's coach. Nothing from Harbaugh.
The Notre Dame-Stanford pillow fight was not a thing of beauty. Really, it was painful to watch for any stretch. Six turnovers, five missed field goals, four plays that the officials missed and had to be reversed by instant replay and eight personal foul penalties. Ultimately Notre Dame could claim a 21-14 win.
Stanford and Coach Matt Jim Harbaugh, though, are going to have to answer questions for putting QB Tavita Pritchard back into the game after taking a shot to his head late in the third quarter. Pritchard took a blow that so clearly left him woozy. ESPN's cameras showed Pritchard dazed and out of it on the sidelines. It looked like more than "getting his bell rung."
T.C. Ostrander came in for Pritchard to finish the series, and it was reasonable to believe that Pritchard was done for the night. Ostrander had a very ineffective series, and started his next one in the 4th quarter. The next series saw Ostrander start with a 23-yard pass that put the Cardinal down at the ND 22. After a holding penalty that moved Stanford back to the 31 yard line, though, Pritchard came back into the game.
The ESPN playcalling crew of Dave Lamont and Ed Cunningham were absolutely stunned. It was unbelievable that Harbaugh and the Stanford medical staff would let him back in the game when he so clearly appeared concussed on the sideline.
Frankly, Pritchard's performance bore out their contention. His first pass attempt was no where close. He was sacked in the backfield and threw another incompletion. There was no reason Pritchard should have been out there after the shot he took.
The Arizona Wildcats blew another game. The Wildcats fell to 1-3 in the Pac-10 and 2-6 overall. Stoops is now 14-28 as head coach. The Wildcats still have games with Arizona State, Oregon, at Washington and UCLA. Getting to .500 seems exceedingly unlikely. They stand an excellent chance of going winless the rest of the way.
This time a 21-20 loss to Stanford. The Cardinal lacked their starting tight end because of a knee injury. Yet another starter lost to injuries. The top three running backs on the depth chart were unavailable because of injuries. The number four tailback, Jason Evans still managed to go for 78 yards. The Arizona defense kept giving up key plays.
Arizona outgained Stanford. The time of possession was almost even. Stanford turned the ball over more times. Arizona had more scoring opportunities. Arizona was simply sloppier and had key lapses. That's on the coach and has been a hallmark of Stoops' tenure. The only question now is whether Stoops will be fired before Washington State fires Bill Doba.
Luckily, so few people get the Versus network that the USC Trojans' loss to Stanford on Saturday was virtually unseen. That is a good thing for both the Trojans, and the Versus announcers who were so befuddled by the fall of Troy that when Stanford scored the go-ahead touchdown, they screamed, "Touchdown, USC!"
USC's coaches have commented that they never thought they could lose to Stanford, even when the game was close with but minutes remaining--leading them to aggressively try to pass with four minutes left on the clock, up by six instead of run the clock out, punt and make Stanford drive the length of the field. Apparently they weren't the only ones who could not believe Stanford could score a go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute left in the game.
This weekend was a perfect setup for our intrepid heroes. Both Dink and Dunk were anxious to catch some sun and relaxation in southern California after a harrowing experience in the deep south. As luck would have it, both the Irish and the Trojans were playing at the same time in the city of Angels right down the street from each other. I don't really need to tell you what happened next... two teams that were combined 62 point underdogs pulled off some magic in another crazy night in a downright crazy year of college football.
Suffice to say, it was a tale of two vacations. In the end, though, the most important thing we learned was always, always pay the extra few bucks to get full insurance on your rental car. It sounds like a scam, but you'll be happy when something like this happens.
The College Football Songbook is a weekly feature in which we'll be making as much fun as humanly possible of the most embarrassing moments in college football. Through words, music, and related video we'll leave a lasting memory implanted on the brains of the vanquished that they are not soon to forget.
It was another weekend of upsets. Not nearly as many as last week, but still. And none was more shocking than the 24-23 upset of USC by Stanford. Did Jim Harbaugh get into Pete Carroll's head? One thing is for sure, he got one of the biggest upsets in college football history with his backup quarterback. And for that, we dedicate this weeks College Football Songbook to Pete Carroll and the Trojans.
So much for our plan to follow the fan experience as USC marched to the BCS Title Game in New Orleans. If the Trojans played as they did Saturday against Stanford, a Hawaii Bowl bid would be a lofty goal--but at least some Trojan fans will be profiting from selling Boo-Tees. Yet despite the loss, FanHouse remains committed to bringing you a sense of gameday on campus--even if the tailgating was as uninspired as the Trojan football team!
In an interesting move, Pac 10 Head of Officiating Dave Cutaia has eschewed the easy road of admonishing the terrible replay reversal made in the Notre Dame-Stanford game and instead has elected to rewrite the rules of replay. Cutaia sent out an e-mail that explained the justification for the Pac 10 replay crew's unbelievable ruling:
Stanford Coach Jim 
To be fair, it seems Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh does not like doing media stuff after games. So it may not be fair to say he was ducking the media specifically to 
The Arizona Wildcats blew another game. The Wildcats fell to 1-3 in the Pac-10 and 2-6 overall. Stoops is now 14-28 as head coach. The Wildcats still have games with Arizona State, Oregon, at Washington and UCLA. Getting to .500 seems exceedingly unlikely. They stand an excellent chance of going winless the rest of the way.
