Around the Big Ten

[lineygoblue]

In that game yesterday (UCLA vs ASU) I saw the most blatant instance of aiding the runner that I've ever seen in my life.

But, I wouldn't have thrown my flag either.

Throwing a flag for aiding the runner is almost as bad as an inadvertent whistle. You take flak from fellow officials forever.

[froot loops]

We had a ref blow an inadvertent whistle on a punt return where we returned it for a TD three weeks ago. It would have tied the game. We ended up losing by that TD, those things happen but it really sucked because the refs had a terribly slow whistle the whole game except for that one play.

[Wild Hoss]

Well, the refs in our game lost a down. That's gotta be top five for the year so far.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, the common theme here is that the Big Ten Conference has the worst referees.

They were at it again in the M Maryland game (see Liney's comments).

Did anyone time the replay booth official's making the call on Drake Johnson's TD. Millen called it on the first re-wind. Obvious yet those dickwads took 7 minutes to decide what the call was.

Another trend ...... every flag produces a conference where it appears no one knows what the correct call is. I'm fine with a conference on a questionable rules violation but off-sides, holding? No. Every other game I watch that is not a Big Ten game seems to me to have confident officials that make the call and make it quickly. No conferencing that I can pick up on. I suppose I could just be biased but frankly, my view of Big Ten refs is that they are comparatively weak.

TD calls are another area of concern. The line judge (correct me if I'm naming the wrong ref, Lines, but the guy standing on or near the goal line) almost always checks around for 5-10 seconds before he makes the call.

WTF is that? You either call it with confidence or get the F off the field.

[Wild Hoss]

Fixing the issue of The Lost Down took around twenty minutes by our estimation, and one of our time outs.

The 2nd PI at the end- on a 2nd down pass that was 12 feet in the air when it went out of bounds- did not endear the refs to me either. That killed any chance that we might have held them.

[lineygoblue]

Well, the common theme here is that the Big Ten Conference has the worst referees.

And its starting to become an embarrassment to the entire conference. We have so many schools with great football tradition, and a history of playing classic football, as its meant to be played .... then these stupid, self-centered knuckleheads come along and ruin everything, making the conference look like a joke.

The really sad, and alarming thing about it is, nothing is going to change as long as the current B1G leadership is in place.

[Hannibal]

Hmmmm, dunno. 2004 was pretty bad as I recall. That was the year of the 6-4 Iowa-PSU game. OSU was god-awful until Troy SMith was made starter midway through the year.

2004 wasn't a great year for offenses but this year we are seeing weekly dookies from almost every team. In 2004 at least most teams could be counted on to run up scores against shitty or even average opponents (e.g. Purdue scored 51 against Syracuse and 41 against ND). This year you are seeing 10-7 games against the MAC and you are seeing Penn State get outgained by Army. That was a few weeks after their offense got completely embarrassed by Temple. You are seeing Maryland give up 700 yards to a MAC team and then keeping Michigan out of the end zone for 35 minutes. Michigan State has been decent but they still failed to break 350 yards against CMU and Air Force. You also had the Duke-Northwestern Twenty One Punt Salute. Unbelievable.

[Cody_Russell]

Yea as a Purdue fan, I'll just say 2004 Purdue was their only shot to win a national championship since I've been watching.

They were 5-0, ranked #5 I think, had a great chance to put away undefeated Wisconsin at home.... then this happened:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iHrMY9Odlw"]2004: Scott Starks fumble return TD @ Purdue - YouTube[/ame]

That one play has led to a domino effect bringing down the entire program. Purdue lost the next couple of games, but they were all close. They were heartbroken after the Wisconsin lost.
I was actually even at the Michigan @ Purdue game in 2004 sitting in the North End Zone section. Close game. Ross Ade Stadium was even full from what I remember.

[iam416]

The offensive play is just awful. Really, really, really awful.

[Ghengis Jon]

That's what used to happen to the Sparties (pre-Dantonio) on a regular basis. They would be 4-1, 5-0 going into the M game, lose, and then tank the rest of the season. They've grown as a program so that one game is no longer the entire season.

[iam416]

Eh, Purdue was good in 2004, but IIRC, they hadn't beaten a team worth a shit leading into that game. I remember thinking this is the most ridiculous #5 vs #10 game ever. (Until South Carolina and Kentucky played something similar a few years later).

2003, IMO, was still the best team they had.

[Hannibal]

The offensive play is just awful. Really, really, really awful.

I haven't tried to compile any data, but I don't remember it ever being worse in the 25 years or so that I have been following the conference as a whole.

Lots of offenses around the country are off this year versus last (look at Oregon and Auburn). Maybe the defensive coordinators have finally made some inroads after about a decade of mostly getting their asses kicked?

[iam416]

That could be. I tend to attribute things like this to QB play. The B10 has poop QBs everywhere, including in Columbus. Oregon dropped from Mariotta then lost their credible replacement. Auburn's issues are completely QB-driven. FSU's offense is shit.

I look around CFB this season, and where are the QBs? Boykin is really good (and TCU moves the ball and scores). Cook, I think, has been good (and is good)...but MSU has a host of injury issues that aren't going to get fixed any time soon. I like Hill at A&M and I like Kessler. But that may be it of the teams that could conceivably win the CFP. OSU is a trainwreck at QB. Alabama is, at best, unproven. LSU has no QB. Georgia has no QB. Kizer has flashed but I'm not sure he's where he needs to be. Baylor? Eh...when do they play anyone?

It's a really subpar year -- probably best evidenced by the fact that the Heisman will most likely be won by a RB.

[froot loops]

I'm not sure what is going on with the Spartans and their offense. A lot of their injury concerns are affecting their defense. On offense they have had a lot of injuries to their OL, but the offensive line has still been pretty good even with all of the shuffling. It seems like once they get to what they think is a comfortable margin, they are closing the play book and running a totally vanilla offense. They better stop that or they'll be staring at a couple of losses.

[drok]

OSU is a trainwreck at QB.

I still can't wrap my head around this. In the offseason, all anyone could talk about was how OSU had 2 Heisman level QB's and the third guy in the mix (C Jones) had as good a chance as any to start. How could OSU screw this up so badly? And how is it not fixed yet? Meyer's a good coach...what is going on over there?

Something tells me it will be sorted out before Nov 28.