The officiating of college football is again attracting negativity after the game of Wake Forest and Georgia Tech was changed by yet another critical blown call on Saturday. This led Josh Pate, an analyst, to publicly blast college football officiating due to a long history of affected decisions.
“I don’t know any other way to put it. ACC officials stole a game from Wake Forest yesterday,” Pate said on his College Football show (0:42).
“Wake Forest is up 23 to 20. Minute 51 to go. Georgia Tech has no timeouts left. Wake has the ball. They’re up. Opponent has no timeouts left. It’s third down. Basically, they need a first down. Game’s over,” Pate set context for his viewers (0:55).
Josh Pate also explained that Georgia Tech jumped offside so clearly that the center did exactly what he was supposed to do as he snapped the ball. Quarterback Robbie Ashford responded as expected, throwing the ball up since it should have been a consequence-free play.
Because no flag was thrown, Wake Forest would have to settle against Georgia Tech with its best shot at what they had been anticipating, at worst, a five-scale penalty and a replay of the third down. In that event, the game stopped the clock; the pass was incomplete, and Wake Forest had to punt again. Georgia Tech, after falling behind, finally managed to orchestrate a scoring drive to tie the game and win in overtime.
“Flat out stole a game from Wake Forest. Not many people will care. It won’t create an outrage campaign because it was just Wake Forest,” Pate remarked (1:56)
“Here’s the situation. Yet again, college football has allowed itself to be a laughing stock and college football officiating has fundamentally changed the outcome of a game,” he further elaborated (2:04).
Georgia Tech won 30-29, in overtime, in a game that should have been a Wake Forest win.
Pate’s frustration shows increasing fear in college football about the lack of accountability with regarding officials. He had previously called the officiating system to be “broken” at its core, citing the lack of transparency and accountability, after numerous errors.
Officiating Errors Throughout The Season Add To SEC Scrutiny
This controversy occurs in a season that has already been characterized by apparent errors. Just a few weeks prior, SEC officials missed an apparent 15-yard penalty against Oklahoma that should have negated a score against Auburn. The SEC admitted they messed it up, but still received criticism from those who wanted the SEC to go public with a suspension of the crew involved in that game.
Read More:
- “Can’t Possibly Be This Horrific All Year”: Josh Pate Calls Out Arkansas Concerns While Taking Strong Stance on Notre Dame in Week 5
- “Make Refs Have Postgame Press Conferences”: Auburn Fans Furious as Josh Pate Torches SEC’s “Broken” Officiating Process
- Josh Pate Minces No Words While Sharing ‘Serious Doubts’ About Alabama’s Future Under Kalen DeBoer
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