ACC official rage quits over replay overreach in UConn-Syracuse game

A longtime ACC football official has resigned in protest over the way an in-game video review was handled during last Saturday's UConn-Syracuse game, according to a report from ESPN. The network reported that Gary Patterson (not the Hall of Fame coach) "abruptly terminated his contract with the conference after the game."

Here was the situation: With 1:02 to play in the first half, Syracuse started a drive from its own 25-yard line. Orange quarterback Steven Angeli was pressured on his 1st-and-10 pass, with a UConn defender making contact with his throwing arm as it moved forward. The resulting attempt was obviously an incomplete pass -- the ball hit the JMA Dome turf at the 31, six yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The game moved forward uneventfully, and Angeli's second down pass was nearly intercepted until two Huskies defenders collided with each other.

Then, things got sideways.

A flag was thrown (in retrospect, it's not clear why) and the ESPN crew initially thought the officials were going to review targeting by a UConn defensive linemen. Instead, what actually happened was the ACC command center had buzzed down to review if the first down pass was an incompletion or a fumble, and the on-the-field officials hadn't received their instruction in time to stop the game.

Patterson could be seen deliberating with his command-center counterpart through his headset microphone for a minute and 15 seconds before he announced that replay had buzzed in for review. Patterson and the command center then reviewed the play for nearly a minute and a half before Patterson announced the call on the field was upheld. "The next play never occurred," he then said. The ACC became the first Power 4 conference to allow deliberations between its command center and the on-field official to air on select television games this season; unfortunately, this was not one of them.

All the while, the play in question was plainly an incomplete pass. Why anyone in the ACC command center thought the play was worthy of stopping the game for more than three minutes is a mystery, and should lead to discipline from within the conference. The sequence begins at 58:18.

 

"The mistakes were completely created by either the replay booth or the command center," ESPN rules expert Bill LeMonnier said. "It's not the fault of the officials on the field."

From ESPN:

One source said Patterson was upset at the ACC's interference in forcing a replay after the next play had already occurred, instigating his resignation. Patterson did not respond to requests by ESPN for comment.

Patterson was scheduled to work Saturday's Pitt-West Virginia game, but the conference will have to find a replacement instead.

By insisting a replay on a run-of-the-mill incomplete pass, the ACC command center created a material impact on the game. Given a second shot at 2nd-and-10, Syracuse drove for a field goal in a game the Orange ultimately came back to win, 27-20.

This debacle, combined with the Northern Colorado-Colorado State incident that occurred hours later, underscore the biggest issue with college football officiating: who is working for who? Rather than serve as a supplement to the officials calling the game on the field, too often replay officials treat their on-field counterparts as their servants.

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