Upon further review...

As T9 eluded last week, I am a Phillies Phan. I have been since the early 1970's and last night's NL pennant was a great night for me in the face of a football season that looks more and more like a program crushing train-wreck each day.

Because I am a Phillies Phan, I know ALOT of Penn State fans. As such, I have engaged in (on many occasions) conversations about their general anti-michigan feelings and constant need to complain about bad calls they feel have cost them games against us.

Most Penn State fans will scream about two games (2002 & 2005) to illustrate how they have been screwed by Michigan loving Big Ten refs.

Complaints about the 2002 game revolve around a "non-catch" call to a ball to #11 Tony Johnson with :43 seconds left and Penn State driving for a game winning FG. I have always agreed that the :43 call was a bad call -- it should never gotten that far because there was an equally as bad call that went against Michigan about a minute earlier to another guy named Johnson (Bryant #24).



1) At 1:42 left, 3rd down. Despite what the TV announcers say, I have never EVER thought that Johnson (#24) had control of the ball as he landed and rolled. This should have been called incomplete and Penn State would have punted, sending the game into OT.
2) Yes, Tony Johnson (#11) had a foot down. This was a catch and a blown call. There was no replay in 2002. I can't argue that it is anything but a blown call when you see it on TV.
3) My argument hinges on the fact that it should have never gotten to this point.

From the 2005 game, I heard from them about three things stick out:
A) Random and poor spot on a Henne run
B) Jason Avant catch late in the 4th quarter
C) Putting 2 seconds back on the clock

Response to A) Here is a link to the play-by-play box score of that game. I could not find a Henne run in the 2nd half that resulted in a 1st down for Michigan. If it happened in the first half, it could not of had that much of an effect on the game because the score was 3-0 at halftime.
Response to B) Here is a YouTube replay of the Avant "catch" in the 4th quarter.



1) I can see that his heel looks out of bounds. Bob Griese says so too.
2) The way he bounced on the ball of his foot MIGHT indicate to someone reviewing the play that his heel never touched. Given the call on the field was a catch, the replay needs to be 100% clear to overturn. If his heel touched would he have been able to kick his foot up like that ? I don't know ?
3) Michigan was in a hurry up mode and the next play got started fairly quickly, perhaps before the "buzz came down". This happened a lot in 2005 (including our Bowl game against Nebraska) before the coaches had challenges to call. Penn State had no more time outs.
4) This was a first down. The play resulted in 17 yards. This was not a "game changer". There is no way to say if the Penn State defense would not have continued to play soft and give up the same yardage the next play or two.

Response to C) The refs decision to put seconds back on the clock was correct. Starting in 2005 the coaches on the sidelines had the authority to call time outs. Carr called a time out, it was granted by the side judge, but the clock ran. I have always thought that more than 2 seconds should have been put back on.

I don't think this will stop the crying, but I thought it was worth looking at.