UPDATE: Big Ten Statement on the replay and clock issues.
“In regards to the play that was called an interception on the field with 13:07 remaining in the first quarter, the video feed to the replay booth was tested and confirmed on Friday and prior to the game on Saturday, but at the start of the game, the booth was no longer receiving all available feeds. The technician in the booth followed procedure by contacting the production truck, which immediately began working on the issue. Due to these technical difficulties, only one isolated shot from the overhead camera was available and the view did not provide sufficient information to reverse the call. As a result, the play stood as called. The production truck rectified the technical issues shortly thereafter, and the replay booth had access to multiple feeds for the remainder of the game.”
Original Story:
There are a lot of reasons why Penn State lost on Saturday night, but two calls; an early interception that appeared to be incomplete; and a field goal well after the the play clock ran out, impacted the game.
Penn State head coach James Franklin wouldn’t comment on the calls or explanations during his post game press conference, but a pool reporter caught up with referee John O’Neill and replay official Tom Fiedler after the game.
Questions and responses are as follows:
Q: The Ohio State Interception in the first quarter, was there a problem with the two replay feeds on that?
O’Neill: The play technically was not thoroughly reviewed due to some technical difficulties with the equipment.
Q: In a case like that when the main feed and the back-up feed are not available, is there any provision that can you look at the in-house feed to get a back-up to get a look at that?
O’Neill: The feeds that the replay team looks at are the feeds you get at home. We can’t create our own rules. The replay rules are clear that we have to use the equipment provided. So, Tom (Fiedler) and the team reviewed what they had.
Q: Then there’s no provision to look at the in-house feed then?
O’Neill: Right.
Q: On Ohio State’s 49-yard field goal, there were some television replays that looked like the clock had run out and maybe two or three seconds had passed the zeros when the clock had run out. Was there any review of that?
O’Neill: No.
Q: Is that something that if you see it in the booth that you can buzz down or is that not a situation that is reviewable
Fiedler: That is not reviewable in terms of when the ball is snapped in relationship to the zeros on the clock.
