The Ohio State football team lost 29-23 to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl Saturday night (as if we have to remind you). It was brutal, and there were two distinct and impactful moments the officials had a hand in that will forever live in the minds of Ohio State fans.
The first was the Shaun Wade targeting call, taking the team’s third-best cornerback out of the game permanently. That rule in general needs to be changed as Wade clearly wasn’t aiming to put a vicious hit on Trevor Lawrence.
Then, what I’ll just go ahead and dub “the call” happened. While many disagree with the decision to overturn the fumble and ensuing touchdown, the refs left their mark on the game yet again.
It was a brutal reality for Ohio State fans who thought the Buckeyes had wrestled the lead back in the team’s most important game of the season. However, the call was overturned, shocking the world — and maybe the entire Milky Way Galaxy too.
Let’s just say former Ohio State alum and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit, who keeps his opinions on the Buckeyes extremely fair and neutral, didn’t agree with the call.
I said what I thought during the game. Looked like a catch and fumble to me. I don’t understand how it was overturned. But there were a lot of things that impacted the outcome of the game. But that was the one call that I didn’t agree with at all. https://t.co/OrRIZ3VSJu
— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) December 30, 2019
Herbstreit, who “didn’t agree with (the call) at all,” knew that just one decision didn’t force the game Clemson’s way. After all, Ohio State’s dynamic offense did settle for three first-half field goals.
The Buckeyes were on the wrong end of those two calls, but they needed to be better. Herbstreit knew that, and Ohio State knows that. Needless to say, it doesn’t make anything better for die-hard Buckeye fans.