Updated AUG 4, 2015 at 11:41a ET Penn State football fans will likely find little comfort, but the coordinator of officials for the Big Ten confirmed last week at Big Ten Media Days his crew missed two calls that benefited Ohio State at Penn State last season. The first came on the game’s opening series when Ohio State safety Vonn Bell appeared to let an interception hit the ground. He was initially awarded the turnover, but replays shown on TV and on the video board at Beaver Stadium showed the ball hitting the ground unsecured. The play stood, however, because the replay booth wasn’t able to get any of the angles that showed that aspect of the play. That was a result of a technical problem with the booth’s video feed that meant essentially the only people unable to see the officials’ error on the field were the officials in the replay booth. Should such a situation arise again, the conference has taken steps to avoid that problem by making the TV broadcast available (on mute) in the replay booth. “Everybody in the world knew that the ball wasn’t intercepted by Ohio State, and everybody in the stadium knew it,” coordinator Bill Carollo told reporters in Chicago, via the Allentown Morning Call. “If something like that ever happens again, at least we can look at the television and we’ll know the problem.” Replay officials still are not allowed to use replays on the video boards in the stadium to overturn or uphold a play. “We’re not going to stick our heads out in the rain to look at the big scoreboards at Penn State,” Carollo said. “It’s unprofessional and it’s not very accurate from that distance. We have the right information from our TV partners.” Additionally, Ohio State benefited later in the first half when the Buckeyes were allowed to attempt a 49-yard field goal despite the play clock having run out. Carollo said none of the officials noticed because they were preoccupied counting players to make sure neither team had more than 11 on the field. The field goal was good, and the Buckeyes won the game 31-24 in double overtime en route to winning the national championship. “We missed it,” Carollo said. “It was human error.” (H/T Allentown Morning Call)
Continue Reading: Big Ten Conference admits officiating mistakes in OSU-PSU
