Refereeing This Past Year

[Tech93]

Is the refereeing getting worse? When I played football, we always knew that there could be a bad call here and there and to move on from it, but this past year I saw some calls that I still shake my head at. The Duke game was the worse officiated game I recall ever watching, the "fumble" call on JT at the goal line at UGA, and most recently the fumble by MSU that was ruled not a fumble and not even reviewed. I was at game so I had to go back and watch replay of game and even the announcers were bewildered. These were just a few incidents and not to mention all the holds that didn't get called. It is frustrating to see refs make these calls when our team works so hard all year long to compete at a high level. In any event, the team overcame most of the poor officiating this year and I love the fight this group displayed! Congrats!

 

[gtrower]

I actually thought we had more go our way than ever before this season. We had some big ones go against us late (UGA fumble, MSU non-fumble) but earlier in the year we had a lot go our way (GSU being most obvious).

 

[dressedcheeseside]

I actually thought we had more go our way than ever before this season. We had some big ones go against us late (UGA fumble, MSU non-fumble) but earlier in the year we had a lot go our way (GSU being most obvious).

There's a difference between winning a 50/50 toss up call (Ga So) and losing multiple blatent blown calls (Ugag, Duke, MSU).

 

[GTJason]

Some of those fumbles at Pitt could have gone either way. I'm a fan of calling anything that looks like a fumble a fumble, but the problem is then you are guilty until proven innocent. At Pitt the call on the field had to stand... at least 2 of them were questionable.

Now when there is clear evidence, like the case of the JT fumble at UGA and the review confirms the call on the field, that's a problem.

 

[DTGT]

Yes, this is the worst year, yet. The refs were very unprofessional in the quantity and type of blown calls.

Part of the solution may be to revisit the compensation of referees. They are basically fans/volunteers that get some extra pocket cash and death threats. You can't live off it. So, it end up being fans of the game that take the job.

Some of these refs do not deserve to have their contract extended next year. I hope that the performance reviews end up making that determination, otherwise we are in for more of the same.

 

[GT Man]

It's probably comparable to other years. Some go your way and some don't. The difference maker was the resiliency of this GT team. They got back up and made some plays and won in spite of bad calls.

 

[Wrecker]

Think calls evened out fairly well this year. Duke game certainly stands out in my memory as being adversely affected by biased calls - thought the refs were ACC basketball refs. One positive, I don't believe we were called for as many chop blocks as we have been in the past. They called one in the OB and a few others I can recall, but not one or more in each game as in years past. I believe this speaks to the quality of the O line players and coaching this year and hopefully CPJ's ongoing effort to educate officials on his blocking schemes and techniques. Great season. Go Jackets!

 

[Lurkerjack]

It seemed that it wasn't limited to on the field blown calls either. There were a lot of "reviews" that left me scratching my head (e.g. LSU td "confirmed" as short of goal). I think the refs are so scared of replay they call it conservative and when the replay official is also conservative, citing a lack of "indisputable" evidence, you get some blown calls.

 

[Animal02]

The other big problem is the inconsistency between crews from different conferences. The most obvious being "forward progress" as determined by SEC and Big Ten crews. It is just more reason to eliminate "conference" refs and the NCAA should take over responsibility and create regional zones for all divisions.

 

[BainbridgeJacket]

Gsu and Pitt went our way. Duke didn't. Uga, msu, and nc state all had one or two questionable calls either way.

 

[iceeater1969]

Think calls evened out fairly well this year. Duke game certainly stands out in my memory as being adversely affected by biased calls - thought the refs were ACC basketball refs. One positive, I don't believe we were called for as many chop blocks as we have been in the past. They called one in the OB and a few others I can recall, but not one or more in each game as in years past. I believe this speaks to the quality of the O line players and coaching this year and hopefully CPJ's ongoing effort to educate officials on his blocking schemes and techniques. Great season. Go Jackets!

The orange bowl chop was on shamire and was the correct call. It was a mix up with burden - shamire must have thought burden would rub and went low. From my angle he went in low but barely engaged. We blocked great this year. Doesn't hurt that uga dc has three years college coaching experience, fsu dc first year, and MSU had no dc. Fronts we faced were pretty clear.
Spread the facts - Gt oline does not chop block --- our oline is much bigger - our oline so called "cut " blocks are really drive blocks . In past our OL was smaller and had to attack lower. Now our technique is to engage at mid level with drive block that ends up finishing As a cut block. This engages - moves the defender and allows for an easier read for the running back.

Refs are Much Much worse at NOT calling wrestling on the opponents ol. In FSU game several the Giant ol mam on freeman just grabbed him and threw him out of the play.

 

[gtg936g]

The UGAg game was the worst officiated game by far IMO

 

[WreckinGT]

Referees at the college level are pretty bad in general. They make pretty poor calls on a routine basis, and there is little accountability for it.

 

[AE 87]

Yeah, there are always going to be missed calls and calls that turn out bad in replay. I expect most of those will even out. The two no-calls that I don't understand were the FG & PAT blocks by RevDrew in the u[sic]ga game.

There's a rule that says you have to wait a second before initiating contact with the long snapper. It's a fifteen yard penalty that we got NC State on because our LS doesn't fire-off at the snap. That's a simple rule and easy to call, and the refs missed it twice, the second time with our long snapper rolling on his back in the backfield.

For those who can't tell the difference, when Gotsis blocked Georgie's FG, their center fired out and Gotsis shot the A-gap.

 

[Essobee]

I recently watched some of the YouTube old film of a few "great" Tech games (50s, 60s) and was surprised by two things: (1) lots of very poor tackling, and (2) a great many missed calls by the refs.

Hope that may add a little perspective.