USC football: Cal’s critical penalty explained

November 10th, 2008, 10:45 am · 5 Comments · posted by Michael Lev, staff writer

The third-quarter penalty against Cal for ineligible man downfield — which wiped out a touchdown that would have tied the game — left most of us in the press box, as well as ESPN analyst Chris Spielman, positively baffled.

I asked USC coach Pete Carroll about it Sunday night, and he said it wasn’t a lineman who had committed the infraction and that two penalties could have been called on the play. So I went back and looked at the replay, and sure enough, Carroll was right.

What happened was this: The Cal receiver at the far left of the formation did not initially position himself at the line of scrimmage. When he realized he needed to move up, he didn’t get set before the ball was snapped. The receiver, therefore, became the ineligible man downfield.

Meanwhile, at the same time the receiver (whose number I couldn’t identify) was trying to get himself set, tailback Shane Vereen went in motion. So, as Carroll said, a second penalty could have been called — for illegal motion.

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Michael says:

November 10, 2008 at 11:24 am

I was also baffled. I didn’t want a crucial penalty to affect a great game between SC and Cal. Kudos to ABC for coming back to the play later on in the game after looking at replays and showing what should’ve been called. Shame on the Pac-10 refs for not clearly explaining what happened. Another bad mark on the officiating from the Pac-10.

USC TIO says:

November 10, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Michael,
I was at the game. The refs seemed to be conducting an officiating clinic, especially during the third qtr, just terrible. The crowd just booed those refs loudly throughout the reminder of the game. But PC & staff must work on the team to control the penalties, because that’s what keeps these inferior teams in the game, it’s just…unacceptable!

FIGHT ON!

Doug says:

November 10, 2008 at 2:33 pm

I too was disgusted with the call. There is no way the touch of Cushing to the QB was “roughing the QB.” Oh, you meant one of the few flags thrown on CAL as compared to two INTs being wiped out in the same drive, and a ton of others against USC. I’m sorry.
Penalize me for that too. BTW, do any refs in college football throw a flag against a player who hits a USC player 10 yards out of bounds and into another zip code? Is there?

The definition of RIDICULOUS: Anytime anyone, anywhere, for anything, complains about a flag not being thrown against a USC player or team. PAC10 Committee Rule #1: All future USC football players must be wrapped in a yellow towel in the hospital at birth.

USCDPT1 says:

November 10, 2008 at 6:25 pm

A new cheer seems to have taken hold at some of the games. Instead of “Beat the Bears”, etc, fans have started shouting, “Beat the refs”. It seems like a pretty accurate cheer to me.

OskiGoDumb says:

November 11, 2008 at 4:27 pm

Ehh, that’s kind of what happened. I think Boateng, the split end to the left realized he and Ross, the slot guy, were both on the LOS(which made 8 men on the LOS w Tucker on the other side). he motions for Ross to get off the LOS but he doesn’t so instead of back up himself he steps forward to make it look like Ross is slotted when he isn’t really. If they hadn’t made it obv by arguing I doubt the SC bench or the ref notices. Wiped out a great call and great execution, what you get with all new receivers.
The Cushing call was borderline but he raises his arms to shove Longshore once the ball is released, it wasn’t his momentum and he didn’t pull up. No, he didn’t level him but the NCAA is emphasizing protecting defenseless players, esp those “out of the play” . Choosing to raise your arms to shove a qb to the ground once the ball is clearly gone isn’t smart. Carroll’s explanation that he was “blocking” Longshore was nonsense since the ball was in the air when he hits him. The other INT was a horrible ball but Longshore was bailed out by blatant PI. Tucker was essentially tackled by 43 before the ball gets there.
They should have reviewed the Turner TD, too. This game wasn’t decided by the refs though. Cal simply could not move the ball effectively against the SC D.

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