Tag: Pac-12 refs

Pac-12 refs stumble in USC game, remind Trojan fans why conference is dying

#Pac12Refs won’t be around in 2024, but they will stick around to the bitter end in 2023. Lincoln Riley was reminded of that.

There are a lot of bad things about the Pac-12 Conference dying, but Pac-12 refs creating anger among fans and coaches is not one of them.

We really do feel bad for Oregon State, Washington State, Pac-12 Network employees, and the many, many other people who are being negatively affected by the Pac-12’s splintering and implosion. It’s terrible, and it would have been far better if it had never happened. However, Pac-12 refs drawing the ire of USC coach Lincoln Riley on Saturday night reminded every USC fan why the Trojans are heading to the Big Ten, and why the Pac-12 has had such bad leadership over the years, with an inability to improve the quality of football officiating within the conference.

A ridiculously long and unnecessary replay review late in the game had everyone grumbling, and it’s worth reminding ourselves why the Trojans are heading to a new conference … and why the Pac-12 is on its deathbed:

Pac-12 refs aren’t the whole problem; the larger process and structure are broken

#Pac12Refs aren’t good, but who is supervising them, and who is changing the culture of Pac-12 officiating? This is the bigger problem.

One of the things to remind everyone about on the topic of Pac-12 refs is that while bad calls or outcomes exist, there’s a deeper problem beyond the blown calls themselves: The process of addressing these flaws is also broken.

Quality control isn’t evident. A commitment to fixing structural deficiencies is lacking.

Consider this example:

A reader of Jon Wilner’s column asked this question after the USC-Arizona game (which was played on Oct. 29):

“What is the Pac-12 gaining by refusing to issue a public statement regarding the atrocious officiating in the USC-Arizona game? It clearly meets the criteria.”

Here’s Wilner’s response: 

“Yes, it does. In 2019, the Pac-12 announced it would issue public clarifications, or apologies, for officiating gaffes that met the following criteria:

“A game-ending call or no-call impacts the result of the game;  A call involves a significant error in officiating mechanics; A call involves an error in rules interpretation;  Other extraordinary circumstances Allowing the clock to run before the ball was spotted at the end of the first half in Tucson seems to qualify as an error in mechanics (i.e., timing).

“The Hotline was disappointed by the absence of a statement. Everything about that situation, from the real-time clock mismanagement to the refusal to rectify the mistake on the field (with replay) to the lack of a clarification it was all disappointing.

“USC fans have every right to be furious. It wasn’t a conspiracy; it was sheer incompetence.”

[mm-video type=video id=01ghcz2ahadph1199xas playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ghcz2ahadph1199xas/01ghcz2ahadph1199xas-b4722b2568ec0ceddc32d3f8443b2b9f.jpg]

[listicle id=51425]

Pac-12 refs who hurt USC vs Arizona commit more huge blunders one week later

The #Pac12Refs crew which bungled a clock situation in #USC – Arizona failed miserably in the Oregon State-Washington game on Friday night.

In each of USC’s last two games, the officiating crew has taken center stage. After the Arizona game, Lincoln Riley had this to say:

“They admitted that they messed it up. My question was, ‘If you messed it up why didn’t you stop the play and review it?’ The explanation given to me at the beginning of the third quarter was they obviously didn’t handle it properly.”

The USC-Arizona officiating crew was led by Michael Mothershed. That crew had the assignment for Friday night’s nationally-televised Pac-12 game in Seattle between Oregon State and Washington.

You’ll never guess what happened: not only lots of bad officiating errors, but some comically bad developments on a crazy night.

Let’s go through the events and how people reacted to them:

Pac-12 supervisors and administrators need to prove they care about officiating

Will we see real leadership from George Kliavkoff and Merton Hanks in the attempt to overhaul the #Pac12Refs?

Bad calls will be made by officials. That happens. We are imperfect, and game officials are no exception. However, when the clock runs longer than it should, and when aspects of game administration are clearly botched in the heat of the moment, officials have a chance to huddle, confer, and correct that kind of mistake.

It’s fine. No problem. Just put five seconds back on the clock, and that immediate error can be fixed and wiped away.

What happens when an officiating crew can’t be bothered to fix an obvious game administration and scoreboard clock error? That’s when it is clear that the administrators and supervisors must insist on a culture of accountability.

Will we see such accountability in the upper reaches of Pac-12 Conference leadership and the people in charge of supervising officials (Merton Hanks in particular)?

This was discussed on The Voice of College Football:

[mm-video type=video id=01ggwsj3gcmtgztyjsb4 playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ggwsj3gcmtgztyjsb4/01ggwsj3gcmtgztyjsb4-932ef77e4da64eeb99ac9d76744b86a8.jpg]

[listicle id=51202]

USC AD Mike Bohn made himself clear

Mike Bohn amplified others’ thoughts about #Pac12Refs. Yet, what’s worse than the blown calls is the refusal to correct them when given the chance.

The fallout from this past Saturday’s latest Pac-12 refs horror show is still emerging. On Saturday evening during the USC-Arizona game, USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn offered an initial reaction to the mess just before halftime, but not in any spoken words. Bohn retweeted several tweets from journalists who were eviscerating the officiating crew. We were all doing that. Bohn indirectly but very clearly joined the parade.

If you were sifting through the various reactions and comments Bohn retweeted, one of them stands out in Jon Wilner’s reportage from the past few days.

Here are Jon Wilner’s notes on USC and Utah from the past week of Pac-12 football, including the retweets of others’ comments on Pac-12 refs:

3. Utah (6-2/4-1)

Last week: 4

Result: won at Washington State 21-17

Next up: vs. Arizona (4:30 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks)

Not only was Utah’s win over USC the most riveting game of the conference season, it was the most punishing. A slew of starters from both teams were unable to play last Thursday (Utah) and Saturday (USC) — and that’s with an extra week of rest.

4. USC (7-1/5-1)

Last week: 3

Result: won at Arizona 45-37

Next up: vs. Cal (7:30 p.m. on ESPN)

Athletic director Mike Bohn didn’t hide his displeasure with the officiating at the end of the first half in Tucson, re-tweeting comments that were extremely critical, including: “I don’t know what was going on with the #Pac12 refs there, but again I think it is incompetence and not bias.” (We agree, by the way: There’s no bias.)

[mm-video type=video id=01ggw8m0j4xm288p28k5 playlist_id=none player_id=01f5k5y2jb3twsvdg4 image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ggw8m0j4xm288p28k5/01ggw8m0j4xm288p28k5-797dcc81d9a55744a91a96df60d6d95b.jpg]

[listicle id=51145]

USC football: the state of the program entering November

We had a lot to discuss with @MarkRogersTV at the @VoiceOfCFB. We also had Cal insider @JakeCurtis53 to talk about the Golden Bears.

It’s the month of November. We got past October and Halloween and trick-or-treating. More than 60 percent of the college football season has been completed. If we aren’t in the home stretch, we are certainly getting close.

We have a weekly USC show at The Voice of College Football with host Mark Rogers. Our live broadcast Monday night tackled a lot of different topics. We invite you to subscribe to, like, and share Mark’s USC channel where we air this show plus our USC postgame show after every Trojan game during the season.

We will share the video of our show below, which — near the end — had a segment with California Golden Bear insider Jake Curtis of the Cal Sports Report before this week’s USC-Cal game.

Here’s a rundown of all the topic we hit on in this broadcast, which took stock of the USC program at the start of November:

Lincoln Riley and USC player quotes from stormy, turbulent win over Arizona

‘If you messed it up, why didn’t you stop the play and review it?’ — Lincoln Riley after the Arizona game on what he told the #Pac12Refs.

Lincoln Riley had a lot on his mind Saturday evening in Tucson.

This could refer to his worries about all the injuries which befell the USC Trojans against the Arizona Wildcats. Jordan Addison, Eric Gentry, Ralen Goforth, Andrew Vorhees, and Mario Williams were all out. That’s a lot of production and a lot of leadership.

Bobby Haskins got hurt in the second half.

Korey Foreman did not play.

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura and his receivers played well.

There was a lot on Riley’s mind … but he also had a lot on his mind when the Pac-12 refs mangled the game administration procedure at the end of the first half, costing USC a field goal.

Here’s what Riley said about that and other topics in this roundup of USC coach and player reactions to the 45-37 win over Arizona:

Reaction keeps pouring in after another Pac-12 refs disaster

The day after another inexcusable blunder, is anything being done about #Pac12Refs? Also, should you care about the first playoff rankings? #Pac12Notebook

There is no shortage of topics to discuss after Week 9 of the 2022 Pac-12 football season. Let’s start with the simple reality that four teams are in the hunt for the Pac-12 Championship Game. Oregon is in the driver’s seat but will soon embark on the toughest three-game stretch of its season. USC and UCLA are headed for a Nov. 19 showdown. Utah is firmly in the hunt and will get its chance to make a run at Vegas and the successful defense of its 2021 Pac-12 title.

The first College Football Playoff rankings will be released this week.

The Pac-12 is better this year on the gridiron than last year.

Pac-12 refs continue to be a story, obviously for all the wrong reasons.

Let’s get to all of these topics.

Mike Bohn, Lincoln Riley react to massive Pac-12 refs blunder which once again goes against USC

#USC AD Mike Bohn retweeted several tweets which poured in after the #Pac12Refs once again jobbed the Trojans. Lincoln Riley was incensed. This is exhausting.

You might not have seen this, since USC’s game against Arizona was on Pac-12 Network, but you might have read about it on Twitter or heard about it if you were tuning in to a radio broadcast of the Trojans’ game in Tucson on Saturday evening.

It’s really very simple … or at least, it should have been.

USC had at least five or six seconds at the end of the first half. The Trojan offense was in position to snap the ball. A first down had just been gained.

By every possible measurement and according to every available detail, the Trojans should have been able to snap the ball and kick a field goal before halftime.

Zero debate. Zero question. Zero ambiguity. Right? Not in the world of Pac-12 refs.

Notably, USC Athletic Director Mike Bohn was paying attention, as you will see below:

Los Angeles Times columnist explores the idea that Pac-12, Big 12 might be punishing USC and Texas

Zero penalties were enforced against Oklahoma State. Texas: 14. Coincidence? One @LATimesSports columnist is asking questions after USC-Utah and Texas-OSU.

Our story begins with a recollection of the night before Lincoln Riley was hired by USC.

The Oklahoma Sooners visited the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The winner would go to the Big 12 Championship game.

I watched that game live, not knowing that Lincoln Riley would be the head coach of USC 24 hours later (to be precise, fewer than 20 hours later).

In the second half, Oklahoma wasn’t necessarily wronged, but every 50-50 call went against the Sooners.

The reality that Oklahoma was heading for the SEC and leaving the Big 12 crossed my mind. Oklahoma fans and bloggers were thinking the same thing.

Fast-forward to another game at Oklahoma State involving the other Big 12 team about to leave for the SEC.

Columnist J. Brady McCollough of the Los Angeles Times explored the idea that the Big 12 is punishing the schools leaving for the SEC, and that the Pac-12 is punishing USC for leaving for the Big Ten.

Let’s dive into McCollough’s piece and add some other insights: