Ducks Defeat Sooners, Use Up 40 Years of Officiating Karma
There isn’t much to say about tonight’s 34-33 win over Oklahoma other than that this was a pretty spectacular display of how terrible officiating is in the Pac-10. A quick recap:
- Oregon did not recover the onside kick. The ball should have been given to Oklahoma since a member of the kicking team touched the ball before it had traveled ten yards. Simply put, the officials on the field made a bad call. This is pretty standard. But what was extraordinary was the replay official (who I can only assume was being held at gunpoint by someone in a Duck costume) confirming the call on the field. Had the correct call been made, Oklahoma would have had the ball and easily won the game.
- On the second play following the onside kick recovery, a Sooner defender was called for pass interference. I can’t tell whether he actually did interfere with the Oregon receiver, but there is no question that the ball was tipped before any interference was committed. Once again, the officials on the field made a poor call. And once again, the replay official did not overturn it. This call was terrible, obviously, but it wasn’t anywhere near as crucial as the aforementioned phantom onside kick.
It’s a win. A win over a team that I extremely dislike. But it was about as ugly and tainted as one can be. The Oregon defense looked like, well, a typical Pac-10 defense. Oregon’s offense committed three turnovers. Brady Leaf was brought in for one series, presumably because Dennis Dixon didn’t have enough to worry about during the game. But it was a win, dammit. And you have to be grateful for that.
Now please, beat the living hell out of Arizona State and Cal. Please. If only for our pride.
