The Call, The Review, The Shaft

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ACC officiating coordinator Doug Rhoads said today that Ron Cherry’s officiating crew handled the spot of the ball correctly on a key fourth-down play during the final minute of Maryland’s 38-31 defeat of N.C. State on Saturday. The officials gave Adams what appeared to be a generous spot of the ball, and coach Tom O’Brien was visibly frustrated when the officials’ measurement showed Adams gained the first down that clinched the win for Maryland with 48 seconds left.
But here is the damning evidence against ACC officiating from Sports by Brooks.
“A sideline video camera angle revealed that Adams never reached the first down marker. In fact, he wasn’t even close before his forward progress was stopped by the Wolfpack defense.”
ACC refs screw over NCSU
There is video to accompany this image here.
The ACC and SEC Blog has some thoughtful commentary regarding the call.

My beef is not with the spot Maryland was given, but who is giving it!

You have a line judge viewing the play from at least 70 feet away making the determination of how far the ball carrier gained. If you haven’t noticed, most officials are in the eyeglass wearing age category yet they need to have microscopic detail from 70 plus feet away on plays like this.  Its absurd!

When the runner is downed inside the hash why can’t the referee who is standing RIGHT OVER THE BALL make the spot!

It seems logical that the person closest to the action could make the best determination, right?

This need for a rule change on who spots the ball is further evidenced on goalline plays where, again, a referee must run in 70-80 feet to determine if the ball carrier crossed the plane.  While the eyeglass wearing, 50 year old official is running in to make the call players are eye gouging, clawing, and pushing.

I know, we all know, it should never have come to us needing that call, but that is no excuse for overlooking the incompetency of ACC officiating and their all too frequent reluctance to overturn a call, and especially one that has ACC Championship implications.

About BAM

I grew up on Jones Franklin Rd with a Wolfpack banner hanging over my bed. UNCW class of 2001.

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39 Responses to The Call, The Review, The Shaft

  1. fullmoon1 11/29/2010 at 7:59 PM #

    Good visuals with the post. It is almost like the football officials take their cues from the b ball ones. It’s a shame. Weather it cost the game is not the point, it is just really poor judgement backed up by the acc.

  2. bTHEredterror 11/29/2010 at 8:06 PM #

    The call that should get someone suspended was the drinking buddy hug the Terp CB gave TJ on the INT that changed that game inthe first half.

  3. BJD95 11/29/2010 at 8:37 PM #

    The ACC has always looked the other way at appalling officiating, choosing instead the “Iraqi Information Minister” approach of blatant denial of anything approaching reality.

  4. ADVENTUROO 11/29/2010 at 8:54 PM #

    I saw the link that was posted last night and looked at the video. It looks crystal clear….but, hey, I don’t supervise Ref Cherry. If I did, I would invite him in for some “splaining”.

    The call was bad. The Denial was worse. I really wonder if the ACC Booth Review crew (the ones that we never see and that chat with the Ref) were under an IMMENSE amount of pressure from the TV boys.

    Thanks to the ineptness of Ref Cherry and his motley crew, there were MORE reviews than Butch Davis denials about not knowing that Black Santa was a scoundrel.

    If so, then since the Clemson game was almost into the second quarter, the Official Review team probably gave it a lick and a promise….in other words, get this game the HECK OVER….the switchboards are lighting up.

    The result, we LOST, would probably have been the same, but at least we, the improbable pack, would have gone down in flames instead of never getting into the air that LAST TIME.

  5. CylonWolf 11/29/2010 at 9:09 PM #

    Don’t focus on the spot…hell, the spot was pretty much correct. Focus on the fact that when the measurement is made, the FIRST DOWN MARKER IS NOT IN THE SAME LOCATION IT WAS DURING THE PLAY. That is a magnificent mixture of incompetence and home cookin all wrapped into one.

    ^Have to wonder how much Adventuroos theory comes into play too, especially after hearing about the timeout fiasco in the Titans-Jaguars came on MNF, where the head coaches were requested to take their unused timeouts near the end of the game since they were short on commercial breaks.

  6. jdmann1288 11/29/2010 at 9:17 PM #

    Reminds me of T.A. McClendon 6 years ago.

  7. ChiefJoJo 11/29/2010 at 9:44 PM #

    BTW, read the quote from the ACC supervisor:

    “The play is handled correctly as well as can be done by human beings.”

    Then he goes on to say that the standard for overturning the call is very high. He’s clearly hedging here. What he’s saying is certainly not the same thing as saying they got the call correct and it was confirmed.

    Ron Cherry’s crew always seems to make mistakes like this. Actually, the fact that we know his name so well is indicative of his poor performance.

  8. Zak-Attack 11/29/2010 at 9:57 PM #

    Aren’t we 0-3 with Ron Cherry’s crew this year? I know they had us for VT, Maryland and I believe Clemson. What a coincidence. I don’t know if they were the crew with ECU. He is also the official who overturned the TA Mclenden touchdown against Carolina after it was already ruled a touchdown by another official. What a cooincidence. It only takes one or two suspect calls to change the outcome of a game these days. Just stating the obvious. We got Cherried this year.

  9. highstick 11/29/2010 at 10:38 PM #

    We have no chance with Cherry…He’s just freakin’ incompetent.

  10. PackManSJP 11/29/2010 at 11:04 PM #

    Zak-Attack, Ron Cherry only did the ECU and Maryland games. Also, it was not his crew that screwed us with TA, it was Jim Knight. He was forced to retire at the end of that season.

    I will say that it seems Ron Cherry has done most of the games State has played against Maryland recently.

  11. StateofthePack 11/29/2010 at 11:09 PM #

    Jim Knight was also the official who had a heart attack on the field during a football game at UNC and the proximity of the stadium to the UNC hospitals very well was the deciding factor in his survival. The very fact that he could be allowed to further officiate at UNC or a UNC contest seemed to me to be an obvious conflict of interest by the ACC. Don’t even get me started about basketball officiating. There aren’t enough hours in the day.

  12. CaptainCraptacular 11/29/2010 at 11:09 PM #

    Zak-attack, while Cherry drives me as nuts as anyone, lets keep it real. Jim Knight was the ref who jobbed State in the TA game, not Ron Cherry.

  13. Scooter 11/29/2010 at 11:13 PM #

    Anyone know our record with crew officiated by Cherry? Would be interesting to compare this to our overall win/loss record.

  14. Hinton Helper 11/29/2010 at 11:17 PM #

    shark jumping in progress.

  15. packman12 11/29/2010 at 11:18 PM #

    Cylonwolf is right. The problem was with the chains-not the spot of the ball. When the play began, the line to make was the 31 yard line. You could clearly see the orange marker at the end of the chain resting at the 31. The runner got to about the 31and a 1/2. However, when they measured for the first, the chain somehow stretched to the ball, and not the 31 yard line where it was supposed to. Who’s to blame? The home team supplies the chain crew, but the officials are responsible for these on-field measurements. Somebody screwed up-an apparent theme for this game.

    Congrats to Nate and Bryan for first team ACC. Russell deserved the QB spot.

  16. NCSU@UNCG 11/30/2010 at 12:45 AM #

    It baffles me that the play got “reviewed” for 10 seconds. In no way am I saying we would have won the game but it would have been fun to watch. Im proud of the team for at least cleaning up the scoreboard but I despise Maryland.

  17. Astral Rain 11/30/2010 at 4:43 AM #

    We need to find a way to ban Ron Cherry from reffing any more of our games. Maybe have one of the cheerleaders get a restraining order on him or something?

  18. Pano Fasoulas 11/30/2010 at 6:09 AM #

    I too would like to see some statistics on State’s performance when Ron Cherry officiates.

    One interesting point. Ron Cherry did the UCF game (so at least there’s one that we won). After the game, some UCF fans said to us that we were helped out by the ref. We laughed and told him that Ron Cherry is no friend of State.

  19. Pano Fasoulas 11/30/2010 at 6:38 AM #

    OK. I did some quick research. The 2010 season was easy to find. I wasn’t able to quickly find anything from last year. I’m sure it exists somewhere.

    Ron Cherry officiated three of our games. UCF, ECU, Maryland.

    2010 record when Cherry officiates: 1-2

    Total Penalties:
    State – 7 UCF – 5
    State – 6 ECU – 10
    State – 2 Md – 9

    So, number of penalties called doesn’t necessarily equate to winning or losing. But, it’s impossible to archive missed or blown calls that effect the final outcome. It would be interesting if someone who has more time could do a more in depth study.

  20. Dr. BadgerPack 11/30/2010 at 7:03 AM #

    ^Number of penalties isn’t going to give much in the way of information. The inspection required is much like that required when looking at foul disparities in a Duke/UNC basketball game. It’s not the number called, it’s WHEN and how they are called. The most tangible example from the Maryland game is the two nearly identical slant passes where the receiver was mugged. Maryland gets a PI called on one, and a pick and subsequent touchdown on the other. Penalties: Maryland 1, State 0… Points, Maryland 7, State 0.

    Timing is everything.

  21. tricu05 11/30/2010 at 8:50 AM #

    I feel everyone’s pain with “Cherry” crew. I’m a Clemson Alum and we all agree with you in the fact that Cherry is the most inept, incompetent, and ridiculously terrible ref anyone has ever seen. And of course, Johnny Swoffy loves this guy. Why wouldn’t he? John Swofford is as bad a commissioner as Cherry is a ref. Does anyone remember the call at the Maryland/Clemson game last year where the receiver for Maryland dropped the pass, and the ball clearly hit the ground but the replay officials never overturned it? The video evidence was just as clear as this play here. Even ESPN’s Heather friggin’ Dinich said it was a bad call. The reason this one play pissed me off so bad, is because it cost Clemson its first chance at a 10 win season in forever. I hate the ACC and everything it stands for. I just wish Clemson would go to the SEC. At least then we’d be given a fair chance at winning, even though we’d probably win less.

  22. pack80 11/30/2010 at 9:16 AM #

    Take a breath people. Bryan, catch the TD pass. Spencer, catch the TD pass. Archer, how bout some double coverage on a recvr who it GOING OFF on you, since we can’t get to the friggin freshman QB!!!!!
    Forget the refs and take care of your own business instead of playing to the level of the competition.
    We gotta learn to step on people when we have them down and keep the pressure coming before we are a championship team.

  23. Packfan28 11/30/2010 at 9:46 AM #

    Right on pack80. Just like Clemson, just like VT. So many blown opportunities. Oh what could have been.

    And then it all ends with Ron Cherry giving us the business.

  24. Prowling Woofie 11/30/2010 at 10:13 AM #

    AMEN, pack80 !

    Ron Cherry had nothing to do with State’s incompetence on the field, or the coaches’ incompetence on the sidelines.

  25. RegularExpression 11/30/2010 at 10:31 AM #

    The screen shot here isn’t even the best one. The best one is the one on 1st and 10 that shows that nose of the ball on the NC State 41 yard line. Then after the 4th down the ball is between the 31 and 32(18 inches short of a 1st down) and yet somehow it is a first down.

    We were jobbed on that play, but given the incredible amount of buffoonery from the officiating crew throughout the game, I really don’t think Ron Cherry’s crew was out to get us on Saturday.

    “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

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