Update on “Field Goal Gate” From Chapel Hill

General36

Only in Chapel Hill would a coach ask for “clarification on rules” after officials almost screwed UVA out of a field goal. In the 20+ years of watching football, I have never seen a crew blow a field goal. Of course when you play in Chapel Hill you should get used to shenanigans.

Good related comments can be found by clicking here.

Here’s a video of the field goal. This is classic:

Also, the ACC office commented on how an entire squad of officials could miss a ball sailing through the uprights:

“The officials clearly erred in not calling that field goal good,” Doug Rhoads, the ACC supervisor of football officials, said from Greensboro. “It was a breakdown in their mechanics. … It was a deviation from our standard practice of mechanics by both officials.“We’ll address their error in mechanics.”

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36 Responses to Update on “Field Goal Gate” From Chapel Hill

  1. roandaddy 09/18/2007 at 9:26 AM #

    I saw it when it happened.. it was actually pretty classic. The referee is ducking to miss the ball while waving his arms saying no good. There was no way he could have seen if it went in or not.

  2. noah 09/18/2007 at 10:53 AM #

    “What UVa was complaining about was the clock. What was the deal with that?”

    Lightning hit the clock the night before and it stopped working in the fourth quarter. It had worked intermittently throughout the game. UVa is trying to run the clock out at the end of the game and they had to guess at where the clock was. It affected their strategy, I’m sure.

    Regarding the personal foul, I would be willing to bet that the ref who saw it probably would admit that he screwed up. The UVa guy did nothing to warrant a flag. Hell, I wouldn’t have even flagged the UNC guy. That’s one where you just step between them and shove them back to their respective huddles.

  3. old13 09/18/2007 at 11:26 AM #

    It still continues to amaze me that a conference that’s striving to become elite in football still embarrasses itself CONSISTENTLY year-after-year with such incompetent refs, not only in locally/regionallu broadcast conference games, but in national games (see Duke-Northwestern) as well!

    Also, the Oblinger-Stafford-Unkle Jed game policies are bordering on police state tactics which make NCSU look like a prison to the world. That’s really a great way to attract top students and faculty! (I guess next they will have yellow lines painted all around C-F and the RBC!)

  4. RochesterRedWolf 09/18/2007 at 11:48 AM #

    man, i forgot about the personal foul penalty…what a gift that would have been 4th and 15? Just enough time for carolina to kick a field goal

  5. highonlowe 09/18/2007 at 12:20 PM #

    Speaking of field goals….

    Even in Victory, Duke football hurts (from EDSBS).

  6. redfred2 09/18/2007 at 6:10 PM #

    Are there any links to Woody’s commentary, or Butch Davis’.

    I saw a replay of the field goal and the call, but I had the sound turned down and didn’t hear what was said. I loved it BTW. I’m truly sorry that I did not catch Woody’s or any of the powder blue media loyal’s comments. Oh but I can believe they said it, whined, moaned, said it was unfair and as always blamed it all on “poor officiating”. At least this time they were right about that this time. But to sit there and watch it, plain as day on that replay and then still try to say that they were wronged, that is…well…what being a Carolina fan is all about.

  7. OwenDorm83 09/18/2007 at 10:43 PM #

    I remember that Ga Tech game. We should have taken the pass interference penalty and not let them get that long pass. We would have had the W since they would have only received a 15 yard penalty back then from the line of scrimage.

  8. beowolf 09/18/2007 at 11:03 PM #

    I had forgotten that GT screwage. I remember the Amazing Clock that magically stopped in the middle of the play to allow their game-winning FG.

  9. noah 09/19/2007 at 4:41 PM #

    Actually, it would have ended in a tie. And to be perfectly fair to the clock operator, the time is kept on the field. The game clock is supposed to be an approximation.

  10. gumbydammit 09/20/2007 at 2:21 AM #

    The most amazing thing to me is the audacity of Butch Davis to “ask for clarification” (translation: challenge the call) when the field goal was clearly good, the original call was clearly blown, and the call that he is challenging is the call to DO THE RIGHT THING. Must be a proud bunch over there in Chapel Hell that they’d rather win on a horribly wrong call than lose fair and square.

  11. redfred2 09/20/2007 at 7:33 PM #

    I’m just wondering if the call had been allowed to stand as it was originally called on the field, even considering the undisputable video evidence to the contrary, would Butch Davis and the UNC crowd have been pleased to get the benefit of a call over some rules technicality about what a coach, in this case Virginia and Al Groh, can ask for a replay on?

    I’m thinking, damn straight they would!!!, and they’d be dam proud of it too.

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