The Pac-12 is standing by its officiating crew in the wake of Saturday's controversial ending to the Cal-Ole Miss game.
On third-and-goal from the 3 with 17 seconds remaining in the game, Rebels receiver Elijah Moore caught the ball with his feet in the end zone before falling forward. The line judge ruled the play short, and Ole Miss — which didn't have a timeout and presumably didn't want the game to hinge on whether refs would review the play — lined up for a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-goal. Cal defenders stuffed John Rhys Plumlee on the attempt, giving the Golden Bears a 28-20 win.
The Pac-12 on Monday said the crew called the play correctly on the field, adding that the crew acted quickly to ensure Ole Miss had enough time to run a final play. However, it did acknowledge that instant replay should have "used better judgment" in stopping the game for a formal review.
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"The final play was reviewed by instant replay where it was determined there was not a touchdown and the ruling on the field would stand," the Pac-12 said in statement. "Prior to the final play of the game, instant replay observed replay video from a camera angle down the goal line and determined there was no irrefutable video evidence that there was a touchdown on the third-down reception. However, the conference acknowledged that instant replay should have used better judgment to stop play for a formal review of the third-down play."
Even if the play was called correctly on the field, a review would have allowed Ole Miss coach Matt Luke to potentially come up with a different play-call on the fourth-down attempt. The Rebels still would have needed a successful 2-point conversion to tie the game.
"I thought at the very least that they were supposed to go review every play," Ole Miss coach Matt Luke said after the game. "At the very least I thought it should've been buzzed and reviewed, but it's fourth down so you can't wait. You've got to get to the next play call, but I think at the very least it could've been buzzed and looked at. But we didn't have that time and we couldn't spike it so our only option was to do the rush."
