NCAA Football

Zebra Report Back to School: Indiana Jobbed in Ann Arbor?

Posted Sep 27, 2009 9:00PM By Matt Snyder (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Indiana, Michigan, Big 10

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If you don't read NFL FanHouse, you don't know me (and that's OK). I'll spare you the introduction, other than to say you can click on this link to see who I am and what I do with this particular series (The Zebra Report). The reason I'm jumping into College Football FanHouse is to examine a controversial play from Saturday afternoon involving my alma mater, Indiana. As the Hoosiers got the ball back following Tate Forcier's late touchdown pass, Indiana needed a field goal to tie or a touchdown to win -- and they had just over two minutes to do so. On the first play from scrimmage, though, Ben Chappell threw an interception to Donovan Warren. Or did he?

You can watch the play in question by clicking on this link and watching closely at the 1:39 mark.

Now, the rule in question here is that which involves simultaneous possession. In the case that both an offensive player and defensive player jointly have possession of the football, the offense retains possession. The play was reviewed by the instant replay officials, and the ruling on the field -- an interception -- was upheld.

The Michigan player clearly emerged from the pile with the football, but if he ripped it away once both players were already on the ground, it should have been Indiana's ball. That is, of course, assuming that the players both had possession before they hit the ground.

After the game, the studio analysts on the Big Ten Network were all saying that dual-possession isn't reviewable; only that the booth could review if it was a catch or not. Um, determining which player(s) -- if any or both -- has possession is part of reviewing the catch. It's definitely reviewable. Of course, they all agreed it was the right call (they do work for the conference, after all).

For the sake of neutrality, I'm going to leave my opinion out of this -- considering my alma mater. We have included a poll to gauge the opinions of the readers, though, as to whether or not the correct call was made.

Let's try to remain unbiased, though, and just watch the play in question. Did the Michigan defender really have possession of the ball before the players hit the ground? Did the Indiana player have his arms wrapped around the ball before the two players hit the ground? It's a tough call to make -- saying both players have possession -- but when it happens, it seems pretty obvious.

If the call was incorrect, this isn't to say the officials cost the Hoosiers the game. Far from it, considering Indiana still had to drive down and score at least a field goal. Still, if the call was incorrect, that would mean they took away any chance the Hoosiers had.
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