College football was reminded of a huge problem this weekend: referees. It’s been an issue for years, but after multiple controversial game-changing calls this past weekend, the question has to be asked: What is up with college refs? Do top-tier programs get the calls? Or is it just plain old bad officiating? Let’s dive into this problem.
The most recent game to have an obvious miss was the Virginia Tech vs. No. 7 Miami game this past weekend. Down four on the final play, Virginia Tech threw a hail mary to the endzone. The Hokies were awarded a touchdown after a three-person fight for the football. They stormed the field after completing a miraculous comeback, but the officials wanted one more look.
After what felt like 10 full minutes of review, the officials finally came back to make the final call. Remember, to overturn a call, there has to be clear and concise evidence via replay review that the original call was wrong. If it takes the officials longer than a minute, is it really that clear? To Virginia Tech’s disbelief, the officials overturned the call and Miami won the game.
This same officiating crew had a bad moment in the limelight in 2015 as well. Miami was involved again, facing Duke. Duke was up late in the fourth quarter and kicked off to Miami. Miami went on to lateral the ball eight times and found the endzone, which was the game-winning play.
The play was reviewed for an illegal block in the back, similar to the Virginia Tech affair this weekend. After a lengthy review, the officials ruled there were no fouls, and the touchdown stood. The only problem was there were four uncalled penalties on the play. The referees from that game were later suspended, and the ACC stated that the penalty should have been called.
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The poor refs aren’t only in the ACC. No. 12 Michigan hosted Minnesota over the weekend and was the beneficiary in this one. After Minnesota turned a 21-point deficit to three, they attempted an onside kick. Surprisingly, they recovered it. However, a flag was thrown and the Gophers were called for an offsides penalty. The problem was, looking at the replay, there was not one single player past the offsides.
Illinois fans remember the officials on Michigan’s side as well. Illinois visited No. 3 Michigan in 2022, and they were winning late in the fourth quarter. On a fourth down play, Michigan passed the ball to pick up the first down. However, there was an uncalled pass interference on Michigan tight end Colston Loveland. This is yet another instance where the call favored the more prestigious team.
So why does this continue to happen? One possibility could be that refs favor the better schools. In all four of those games, the more prestigious program was on the favorable side of the penalty. Miami, a top school in the ACC, and Michigan, a top school in the Big Ten. Both teams were hunting for a playoff bid this week, while their opponents were not.
Conferences could stand to make more money from their prominent teams winning. By keeping teams on top, they likely make more money. Of course, there isn’t a way to say if this is the case. It would be a pretty big deal if conferences were favoring certain teams and letting refs call or not call penalties for them.
To be very clear, college football isn’t completely rigged. I’m not even suggesting that. It would be impossible to completely rig an entire football game. For example, Alabama freshman Ryan Williams’ catch-and-run touchdown against Georgia on Saturday night. It would be ludicrous to suggest that a play like that could even be planned out. While there could be favoritism from conferences and refs, it is not rigged by any means.
Another possibility is that the officials are just downright bad. Referees make bad calls all the time across every sports league. Most fans of the MLB, NBA, CFB and NFL dislike the refs. While it may be an unpopular opinion, refs are human too and are very likely to make mistakes, especially in a fast-paced game like football.
Of course, in today’s day and age, it’s harder to just miss a call with all the technology around. Some things can’t even be reviewed. Some things are reviewed but the call stands. That does make missed calls less explainable, but not impossible. These missed calls could very well just be… well, missed calls.
Whether the bad officiating is just bad officiating or there’s something else going on, the referees in college football need to clean it up. Too many teams have lost out on a big win because of it, and it has become a huge problem.
@ben_some16
