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SEC admits refs 'goofed' in Florida-Tennessee game
BY DAVID JONES
FLORIDA TODAY
GAINESVILLE - The Southeastern Conference's supervisor of officials admitted Sunday night that the crew working Tennessee's 30-28 win over Florida one night earlier "goofed," making two serious mistakes that may have affected the outcome.
"They did, unfortunately," Bobby Gaston told FLORIDA TODAY. "I can say there was a timing error made at the end of the game and there will be accountability, but we do not make public what we do. That's handled in-house between the University of Florida and the (SEC) commissioner."
The whole crew, which is one of the league's most highly rated and has worked the league championship game together, will be punished, Gaston said.
The errors occurred after Florida wide receiver Dallas Baker and Tennessee cornerback Jonathan Wade clashed after a third down run for no gain by Gator tailback DeShawn Wynn with 55 seconds left. An official standing near the play penalized Florida 15 yards and stopped the game clock - even though Wade also hit Baker in the helmet with his hand, causing the receiver to retaliate.
Gaston said both players should have been penalized. That would have meant offsetting penalties and the ball would have stayed at the 38 instead of being moved back to the 23, where UF had to punt on fourth down.
Officials also stopped the game clock until the action resumed. Stopping the clock before Eric Wilbur's 41-yard punt enabled Tennessee to take over with 43 seconds left and run five plays before James Wilhoit kicked a game-winning 50-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Gaston said the clock should have started the second the ball was placed on the ground - and it should have been placed at the 38, not the 23.
"Had it been an incomplete pass play, then you start the clock on the snap," Gaston said of the rule. "But you had the running play where, in the absence of the penalty, the clock would have continued to run. (So) the clock should have continued to run."
Gaston was on the sidelines and realized immediately what had happened. He left with the officiating crew after the game and told them they'd made a mistake.
"When I saw it, I knew then that we had goofed," Gaston said. "You don't know these guys how dedicated they are. They are just sick, they really are, because they pride themselves in attempting to be perfect. It is impossible."
The penalty on Baker was also an obvious mistake in Gaston's eyes. "After looking at it, it appears to me it should have been an offset, that both sides were equally responsible and then the clock should have started on the ready for play," Gaston said. "You just offset it and put the ball down where it was and wind the clock.
"They would have probably gotten 20 seconds off (the clock) before the kick."
That means Florida should have punted from the 38 and would likely have pinned the Volunteers deep in their own territory with about 30 seconds left in the contest and no timeouts remaining.
Would Florida have won in such a scenario?
"Nobody knows," Gaston said. "We can't guarantee what the next play offers in any respect. It really has been (upsetting). Anytime our guys make a mistake, I'm just as sick as they are. You can imagine. They almost need therapy. It's really that bad. They are a very dedicated crew and they really work hard to try to everything just perfect and when they realized what had happened ..."
The crew that worked the game was made up of Penn Wagers (referee), Mike Wallace (umpire), Guss Morris (linesman), Terry Walters (line judge), Jimmy Buchanan (back judge), Richard Morales (field judge) and Bobby Moreau (side judge).
Gaston said it's not the first time mistakes like these have happened, but at the end of the UT-UF game televised nationally on CBS, it was much more dramatic.
"There are timing errors made in a lot of games," he said. "Just not in the last 55 seconds. If that had happened in the first quarter, nobody would have ever said anything because it just wouldn't have had the bearing that it had. The fact that it happened when it did it was just unreal and sickening."
BY DAVID JONES
FLORIDA TODAY
GAINESVILLE - The Southeastern Conference's supervisor of officials admitted Sunday night that the crew working Tennessee's 30-28 win over Florida one night earlier "goofed," making two serious mistakes that may have affected the outcome.
"They did, unfortunately," Bobby Gaston told FLORIDA TODAY. "I can say there was a timing error made at the end of the game and there will be accountability, but we do not make public what we do. That's handled in-house between the University of Florida and the (SEC) commissioner."
The whole crew, which is one of the league's most highly rated and has worked the league championship game together, will be punished, Gaston said.
The errors occurred after Florida wide receiver Dallas Baker and Tennessee cornerback Jonathan Wade clashed after a third down run for no gain by Gator tailback DeShawn Wynn with 55 seconds left. An official standing near the play penalized Florida 15 yards and stopped the game clock - even though Wade also hit Baker in the helmet with his hand, causing the receiver to retaliate.
Gaston said both players should have been penalized. That would have meant offsetting penalties and the ball would have stayed at the 38 instead of being moved back to the 23, where UF had to punt on fourth down.
Officials also stopped the game clock until the action resumed. Stopping the clock before Eric Wilbur's 41-yard punt enabled Tennessee to take over with 43 seconds left and run five plays before James Wilhoit kicked a game-winning 50-yard field goal with six seconds left.
Gaston said the clock should have started the second the ball was placed on the ground - and it should have been placed at the 38, not the 23.
"Had it been an incomplete pass play, then you start the clock on the snap," Gaston said of the rule. "But you had the running play where, in the absence of the penalty, the clock would have continued to run. (So) the clock should have continued to run."
Gaston was on the sidelines and realized immediately what had happened. He left with the officiating crew after the game and told them they'd made a mistake.
"When I saw it, I knew then that we had goofed," Gaston said. "You don't know these guys how dedicated they are. They are just sick, they really are, because they pride themselves in attempting to be perfect. It is impossible."
The penalty on Baker was also an obvious mistake in Gaston's eyes. "After looking at it, it appears to me it should have been an offset, that both sides were equally responsible and then the clock should have started on the ready for play," Gaston said. "You just offset it and put the ball down where it was and wind the clock.
"They would have probably gotten 20 seconds off (the clock) before the kick."
That means Florida should have punted from the 38 and would likely have pinned the Volunteers deep in their own territory with about 30 seconds left in the contest and no timeouts remaining.
Would Florida have won in such a scenario?
"Nobody knows," Gaston said. "We can't guarantee what the next play offers in any respect. It really has been (upsetting). Anytime our guys make a mistake, I'm just as sick as they are. You can imagine. They almost need therapy. It's really that bad. They are a very dedicated crew and they really work hard to try to everything just perfect and when they realized what had happened ..."
The crew that worked the game was made up of Penn Wagers (referee), Mike Wallace (umpire), Guss Morris (linesman), Terry Walters (line judge), Jimmy Buchanan (back judge), Richard Morales (field judge) and Bobby Moreau (side judge).
Gaston said it's not the first time mistakes like these have happened, but at the end of the UT-UF game televised nationally on CBS, it was much more dramatic.
"There are timing errors made in a lot of games," he said. "Just not in the last 55 seconds. If that had happened in the first quarter, nobody would have ever said anything because it just wouldn't have had the bearing that it had. The fact that it happened when it did it was just unreal and sickening."
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