Greg Sankey on SEC officiating

[B1GTide]

And have for a long time. Unfortunately, bias from SEC admin, including officials, isn't new. Dates back at least to Roy Kramer.

OSU went through this during Meyer's dominant years. It was tough to watch. At the time both Alabama and OSU were, year after year, facing the same hurdle. Their opponents were allowed to do anything to gain an advantage while we were called for even the most minor infraction.

For OSU, this has eased up over the last few years. We got weaker and the calls started to even out. As a result, my theory is that teams who are so dominant are treated this way for the same reasons that Shaq could be fouled on every play under the basket and it not be called. For years he could get mugged and still score, so no fouls were called. When the officials realized that calling the fouls actually hurt Shaq because he was such a poor FT shooter, they started calling them. Officials literally cost Shaq's teams points in every game.

 

[gman4tide]

In order for there to be a holding foul it needs to be a MATERIAL RESTRICTION that IMPACTS THE PLAY. Those who say you could call a hold on every play are only referring to an jersey grab or hand outside the frame. You could call that a hold but you would be incorrect. A run goes off tackle and the back side tackle restricts the DE it has no impact on the play. The run doesn't go back that direction. As a fan you would HATE watching football because there would be a lot of fouls.

On the play in the picture you can never tell a hold from a still. The action itself definitely fits the definition of a material restriction. The blocker is definite beat and that's a standard arm across the chest band bending back of the defender. Several unknowns though in this photo. You can't tell depth from this angle. It's really hard to tell if the defender is 2 yards from the passer or 6 yards. That would make a difference here as the passer is in the process of releasing the ball. If the defender is 6 yards away you would likely pass on this because it had no impact on the play. The other aspect is I have no idea what angle this is from. Is this from the end zone behind the passer? Is it an angle from the sideline. That would only help me determine what angles the officials covering this part of the play would have. I also don't know if this QB was in the pocket or if he's scrambled and we are somewhere else on the field. That would determine who has responsibility for this block. Let's say this was a 3-step drop and pass with the QB still in the pocket. The wing to the right of the picture would have the T (assuming this is the RT) at the snap. If his initial block is clean he's going to transition to his eligible receiver. The R will start with the opposite tackle. If the LT is engage in a possible foul then he's going to keep his eyes there and not come back to this T. That means it's possible nobody is watching this block at this exact moment. With 8-man though the C should be watching this unless he's also drawn to another block in the middle.

That's just some factors that go into any play. And all of that happens and is processed in 4-5 seconds. This may very well be a missed hold if no flag was thrown. I just wanted to share different factors that go into every play and how the officials have to watch players on every play.

As soon as I saw the pic, I KNEW the comment was coming!

 

[AlexanderFan]

So we have two choices: every SEC crew is incompetent, or they are following instructions. I think they are following instructions from the head office. Why? 9-6 OT is why. The SEC took a beating for that game in today’s culture. The average football watcher doesn’t want to watch slugfests where every play matters. The average football watcher wants deep throws and nimble athletes weaving through traffic for touchdowns. You can’t get highlights if the defensive line gets penetration and disruption on almost every play, so what do you do? You loosen regulations on holding, but you do it in house. Suddenly pockets are cleaner, holes are bigger and offensive numbers go up, thus creating a more “exciting” brand of football. Alabama sees the lion’s share of this because lately Alabama has a larger talent gap to their opponent than most.

I also won’t rule out the SEC helping to keep teams relevant in the BCS/playoff race. We saw them make up a rule to keep Auburn in the talk the year they won it, so nothing is really off the table with these guys.


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[B1GTide]

So we have two choices: every SEC crew is incompetent, or they are following instructions.

There is a third possibility, and it has been brought up here before - that officials, just like the general population, have a soft spot for the underdog. It is still wrong, but it doesn't have to be a conspiracy. It could simply be human nature at work.

ETA - if we think about this, why would SEC officials want to harm Alabama? Why would B1G officials want to harm OSU? Alabama is the bell cow of the SEC, just as OSU was for about a decade. The conferences would want their best team to continue winning as it helps the conference overall. That is why other teams in your conference actually think that they are getting hosed by these officials - to help keep Alabama on top.

 

[CB4]

OSU went through this during Meyer's dominant years. It was tough to watch. At the time both Alabama and OSU were, year after year, facing the same hurdle. Their opponents were allowed to do anything to gain an advantage while we were called for even the most minor infraction.

For OSU, this has eased up over the last few years. We got weaker and the calls started to even out. As a result, my theory is that teams who are so dominant are treated this way for the same reasons that Shaq could be fouled on every play under the basket and it not be called. For years he could get mugged and still score, so no fouls were called. When the officials realized that calling the fouls actually hurt Shaq because he was such a poor FT shooter, they started calling them. Officials literally cost Shaq's teams points in every game.

The "let's give David a couple more stones to even up the battle against Goliath" syndrome.......

 

[RTR91]

Last year, I looked at the penalty numbers for Alabama games since 2013. I compared the opponent's penalty number against Alabama to what it averaged in its other games. From 2013-2018, Alabama played 86 games. Of those 86, 19 opponents (22%) had 3 or more less penalties than it averaged the rest of the season, and 8 (9%) had 3 or more penalties than it averaged.

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

And have for a long time. Unfortunately, bias from SEC admin, including officials, isn't new. Dates back at least to Roy Kramer.

The name that should never be uttered on this board... :mad2:

 

[NoNC4Tubs]

So we have two choices: every SEC crew is incompetent, or they are following instructions. I think they are following instructions from the head office. Why? 9-6 OT is why. The SEC took a beating for that game in today’s culture. The average football watcher doesn’t want to watch slugfests where every play matters. The average football watcher wants deep throws and nimble athletes weaving through traffic for touchdowns. You can’t get highlights of the defensive line gets prevention and distortion on almost every play, so what do you do? You loosen regulations on holding, but you do it in house. Suddenly pockets are cleaner, holes are bigger and offensive numbers go up, thus creating a more “exciting” brand of football. Alabama sees the lion’s share of this because lately Alabama has a larger talent gap to their opponent than most.

I also won’t rule out the SEC helping to keep teams relevant in the BCS/playoff race. We saw them make up a rule to keep Auburn in the talk the year they won it, so nothing is really off the table with these guys.


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Slive had to have gotten something from awbern for that... :rolleye2:

 

[Hoot30]

So we have two choices: every SEC crew is incompetent, or they are following instructions. I think they are following instructions from the head office. Why? 9-6 OT is why. The SEC took a beating for that game in today’s culture. The average football watcher doesn’t want to watch slugfests where every play matters. The average football watcher wants deep throws and nimble athletes weaving through traffic for touchdowns. You can’t get highlights of the defensive line gets prevention and distortion on almost every play, so what do you do? You loosen regulations on holding, but you do it in house. Suddenly pockets are cleaner, holes are bigger and offensive numbers go up, thus creating a more “exciting” brand of football. Alabama sees the lion’s share of this because lately Alabama has a larger talent gap to their opponent than most.

I also won’t rule out the SEC helping to keep teams relevant in the BCS/playoff race. We saw them make up a rule to keep Auburn in the talk the year they won it, so nothing is really off the table with these guys.


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Something does seem to be up. I tend to think this way as well. Look, I'm a high school basketball official. I've also been a season ticket holder for UA football and basketball for 20 years, so I have the perspective of both a fan and an official. I used to officiate high school football when I lived in Alabama. It's the same in high school in that we were taught to pass on throwing the flag on a hold if it doesn't impact the play (i.e. the rb goes to the right but you see the LT hold a DE away from the play). The philosophy is that more flags do slow down the game. But, if it's a safety issue such as blocking below the waist, throw the flag not matter where the play goes.

It seems to me that the way football is officiated at the FBS level in the last 10 years is way different than it was. And, that 9-6 game looks like that started it. We used to see more holding calls than we are seeing now. Are they trying to protect QB's more by not calling holding? I can't remember when an OPI has been called in FBS, but OPI seems to be consistently called in the NFL. Does the NCAA want more offense, so is it an unwritten policy to pass on OPI so as to increase scoring? When they changed the rule to allow OL to be 3 yards past the line of scrimmage that tipped the rules to favor the offense imo. When they added the center official to help spot the ball more efficiently, that cowtowed to those that wanted to run the HUNH. In understand the coaches write the rules in college, but I agree with CNS' comments from a few years ago. The NFL pretty much told Chip Kelly to blow off; we're not going to have officials running around in constant hurry-up mode just to appease you.

I could be wrong, but that's the way it appears to me. The way that FBS officiating is working today causes me to have no desire to try to become one.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Something does seem to be up. I tend to think this way as well. Look, I'm a high school basketball official. I've also been a season ticket holder for UA football and basketball for 20 years, so I have the perspective of both a fan and an official. I used to officiate high school football when I lived in Alabama. It's the same in high school in that we were taught to pass on throwing the flag on a hold if it doesn't impact the play (i.e. the rb goes to the right but you see the LT hold a DE away from the play). The philosophy is that more flags do slow down the game. But, if it's a safety issue such as blocking below the waist, throw the flag not matter where the play goes.

It seems to me that the way football is officiated at the FBS level in the last 10 years is way different than it was. And, that 9-6 game looks like that started it. We used to see more holding calls than we are seeing now. Are they trying to protect QB's more by not calling holding? I can't remember when an OPI has been called in FBS, but OPI seems to be consistently called in the NFL. Does the NCAA want more offense, so is it an unwritten policy to pass on OPI so as to increase scoring? When they changed the rule to allow OL to be 3 yards past the line of scrimmage that tipped the rules to favor the offense imo. When they added the center official to help spot the ball more efficiently, that cowtowed to those that wanted to run the HUNH. In understand the coaches write the rules in college, but I agree with CNS' comments from a few years ago. The NFL pretty much told Chip Kelly to blow off; we're not going to have officials running around in constant hurry-up mode just to appease you.

I could be wrong, but that's the way it appears to me. The way that FBS officiating is working today causes me to have no desire to try to become one.

And - you see that in almost game now, when the official stands and holds his hand on the ball until the defense is set? Anyone else remember Jameis Winston, while at FSU, knocked the official out of the way for holding the ball down to control the game?

 

[81usaf92]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gajsoEGKWhs

 

[12Namath12]

 

[crimsonaudio]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gajsoEGKWhs

Obviously none of those so-called holds had any effect on the play.

You can't tell from this angle anyway. Video can be super-deceiving, especially from multiple angles.

Those refs were obviously doing their best, and these are the best we could ever hope for.

Don't you know how hard it is to referee a football game? It's more difficult to understand what holding is than to become a neurosurgeon - few humans could even dream of it.

You're just too biased to see that none of these are holds.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Obviously none of those so-called holds had any effect on the play.

You can't tell from this angle anyway. Video can be super-deceiving, especially from multiple angles.

Those refs were obviously doing their best, and these are the best we could ever hope for.

Don't you know how hard it is to referee a football game? It's more difficult to understand what holding is than to become a neurosurgeon - few humans could even dream of it.

You're just too biased to see that none of these are holds.

Weirdly that would be IndyBison's exact response, but it wouldn't be blue font.