East Carolina fans irate after several questionable calls on Tulsa's game-winning drive
The East Carolina Pirates fell to 1-4 on Friday night with a narrow 24-20 loss to Tulsa, but the Pirates feel like they were robbed by the refs.
On the last drive, a fourth-down pass was broken up by the ECU defense, leading players to celebrate. However, a ref threw a late flag to keep the drive going.
From there, this play was ruled not a fumble on Tulsa, despite how it looks on the field here:
This was ruled a fumble for Tulsa live and overturned on review to say he regained possession and was down…Tulsa ended up scoring the game winning TD as a result, after benefiting from another close call on 4th down pic.twitter.com/u4f58GmagG
— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) October 31, 2020
Then, this play was ruled a catch, despite the screen grab seeming to show the ball on the ground:
The potential game winning drive for Tulsa might be the worst officiated sequence I’ve seen in a college football game in a long time highlighted by this “complete” pass pic.twitter.com/eAaVfVdRG8
— Todd Fuhrman (@ToddFuhrman) October 31, 2020
Yes, those are tough plays to officiate in real time, but that’s theoretically why replay is used. ECU fans weren’t happy:
And apparently I went to bed wayyyy too early bc I missed ECU getting completely robbed.
— Amy Kibler Holliday (@AmyKHolliday) October 31, 2020
I just wanna start my morning by saying ECU got robbed last night!! Now continue your day!!
— cejay thomas (@certified_ballr) October 31, 2020
East Carolina, Tusla game. Horrible officiating ever. Start of the 4th fix was in. Feel for ECU, got robbed!!
— Jonah Bair (@JBair73) October 31, 2020
https://twitter.com/DrewButler/status/1322399912915591168
I am so mad with those refs in Tulsa they just robbed ECU of a win! should have been 30-27.UNBELIEVABLE I’ve never seen such a bad call before!!! ☠️And they kept reviewing it on the smallest TV I’ve ever seen! WTF Also the announcers said it was a fumble & an incomplete pass!!! https://t.co/mjUo9c5E1n
— Anderson Rish (@andersoncr94) October 31, 2020
Arkansas and Ole Miss fans will understand how ECU fans feel this morning.
Ouch!!! I cant make out the screen grab….but on the fumble, the runner has CLEARLY lost control of the ball before going down. The ball is sliding down his body and to the ground. I dont understand why the numbnuts doing the review can’t see this crap…its so obvious. That backwards spike by Auburn was clearly a fumble…no question. What is going on with the officiating crews. Maybe its time to have game outcomes changed the next day or both teams get to count a win or something. Bad calls happen but they cant be allowed to determine the outcome of a game as its winding down. Why play if the officials can decide among themselves who will get the win and who gets the big L.
If you click on the screen grab you’ll get a full view pic, and yeah, the ball is clearly laying on the ground with no part of his hand, arm or body underneath it, his arm/hand isn’t even touching it. I just don’t get how bad replay is, even after all these years for officials to study and get better with it. But these calls are quite obvious, you don’t need to be an experienced official to understand what the call should or shouldn’t have been based on these replays. It’s laughable, but in a pathetic kind of way.
At what time in the clip does the ball roll down his body and to the ground? I’m not trying to argue, I’m being sincere. The last view of the ball in this clip is around the 8s mark and it’s in his hands, not on the ground. I’m just curious what you see that I don’t.
After watching the very last second at 1/2 speed I see the ball come rolling on the ground from the scuffle of players so that’s my bad on that. But I don’t understand why he wouldn’t have been down at the 6s mark while both hands are on the ball and his knee is down
I’m almost certain I won’t get a straight answer here and will be met with ridiculous trolling comments but I have a legitimate question.
Not going to speculate or comment on the 4th down flag or the complete pass that’s sitting on the ground because I didn’t watch the game and there’s no video clips on those here.
However, I’m confused about the fumble clip. So, as I watch this, @3s on the clip, ECUs 35 tried to strip the ball and Tulsa’s 21 managed to pull it back in. Then @6s, Tulsa’s 21 appears to have both hands on the ball and his left knee is down. In this moment, the ball does not appear loose to me. The clip ends 4s after that so I’m confused why this would have in fact been a fumble.
I’m not defending the officiating or trying to start an argument. I’m genuinely curious why it would have been a fumble
It looks to me that he had possession at the 6 second mark with both hands on the ball and his knee was down. The still image in the article that shows the ball on the ground is after the 6 second mark when he was down.
I think that still you’re talking about was from the questionable pass complete call, not the fumble play. 13 wasn’t involved with that.
Yeah the still image was the question about the completion. The video seems to show the runner with possession with his knee down.
I mean, I lost sight of the ball @8s in the scuffle and the clip ends before it shows anyone coming up with the ball. I also can’t tell if the ball is moving @6s, I just appears like he has both hands on it while his knee is clearly down