How was that not a TD?

[WesternKyVol]

You see his hand on the ball not the ball in his hand.

Put the tips of your fingers on top of a football with nothing under the football and tell me if you can control the football. I'd bet the ball falls to the ground.

Hard to tell that his thumb is off the ball at the exact moment that the nosed crossed the plane. Inconclusive, I think. Admittedly, I wanted it real bad.

 

[TDawg]

What you can't see from that blurry shot is how much of a grip he still has on the ball at that point. However, there is a ref standing RIGHT THERE looking at the play and he called a touchdown. there is clearly not "indisputable evidence" or we would not be disputing it. Even two Gator fans in myself and LW are disputing it so by rule, it should not be overturned.

Replay was installed to correct obvious bad calls and it has morphed into replay refs officiating the game from behind a wall in front of a TV. That is just plain wrong.

No way that ref can make that call for CERTAIN in real time but to even use him as the reason for "indisputable evidence" is just funny. If that were the case, why have video replay in the first place?

 

[VolsSportsFan]

It makes me think of the way I used to "dunk" a basketball since I couldn't palm it. My hand underneath and then turning the ball over and flicking it down. I essentially lost control as soon as I turned my hand over, yet was able to guide the ball toward my intended target.

But, I think it was a fumble.

It's similar but since the concept of scoring is different in each sport I don't think the comparison works.

 

[holtridge]

Unless he's Spider-Man, that's a fumble.

the right call was made on the field

 

[TAF]

the right call was made on the field

The call on the field was a touchdown...

It was overruled by the replay booth with "undisputable evidence"...

 

[VolsSportsFan]

the right call was made on the field

Apparently it wasn't.

 

[MedicT]

Late response to this, but how on earth is this "clearly" a td? If anything, it's a pretty crystal clear image of him losing possession. I wanted the call to go our way as much as anyone else....... but saying he had possession of that ball while breaking the plane is bordering on blind homerism.

Agreed......The ball was clearly rotating independent of hand motion well before the ball broke the plane. That was an obvious fumble.

 

[cpavol]

Guiding the ball with your hand is not possession.

How do you guide the ball if you don't have possession?

 

[bamawriter]

How do you guide the ball if you don't have possession?

If I throw a ball to you, but rather than catching it you slap it away, you guided the ball, but you didn't possess it.

 

[Boca Vol]

How do you guide the ball if you don't have possession?

You ever see the D practice a tip drill?

 

[B-17 Pilot]

He had a grip on the nose.

speaking of getting a grip. . . Go Vols!

 

[TheGoodStuff]

Could this call also been overturned and ruled a fumble at the 1 inchline?

Ball looks to be fumbled into the endzone marker (which also happens to be the out of bounce marker) no???

At the end of the day the real focus should be on how great of an effort our team gave! Hopefully the team will be pumped and go give USCe fits.

 

[CourtJester]

If I throw a ball to you, but rather than catching it you slap it away, you guided the ball, but you didn't possess it.

The problem is it's impossible to tell from the replay (at least any we've seen) whether he was simply pushing at the ball with the fingertips of his left hand and no longer had any real control (slapping at it in your analogy), or whether he actually still had his thumb and a few fingers of his left hand on the point of the ball as it crossed the plane, just before losing the ball altogether. He was definitely still making contact with the ball with his left hand as the ball broke the plane, and if you're claiming there is a video that is conclusive on this issue one way or the other, please link it for us. I doubt the replay official even thought about his left hand; once they saw he clearly lost it with his right hand that was it. But in this case I don't think that was conclusive.

 

[volatil]

Could this call also been overturned and ruled a fumble at the 1 inchline?

Ball looks to be fumbled into the endzone marker (which also happens to be the out of bounce marker) no???

At the end of the day the real focus should be on how great of an effort our team gave! Hopefully the team will be pumped and go give USCe fits.

The pylon is part of the end zone.

I don't believe there was enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

It's done. We have to move on and grow from yet another unfortunate event.

Really should have never had to come down to that play. We had our shot to hold them out of the end zone in regulation.