The most controversial officiating moments of 2019

The Rams-Saints, the World Series, Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA all saw plenty of controversy in 2019.

Penn State-Iowa

Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State held a 7-6 lead at the time when a bizarre sequence of plays and penalties occurred. Running back Journey Brown’s 6-yard TD run  was disallowed because of holding. Then Sean Clifford threw a 16-yard TD to Pat Freiermuth — but it was reversed and ruled a yard short. Brown rushed for no gain, then another holding call moved Penn State back again, and then Clifford sprinted in for an 11-yard TD — before that was also called back for holding. An online petition started to fire one of the officials involved, John O’Neill, has more than 18,000 signatures. O’Neill was assigned to games that saw two other infamous calls in recent Penn State history.