Commissioner Yormark. Hope the holidays are treating you and your family well. You must be thrilled to have a team from your conference in the playoffs in TCU, and on top of that, a quarterback from the very same school selected as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy. I certainly hope you’ll enjoy the lovely weather in the desert on New Year’s Eve, trip courtesy of the Horned Frogs.
I know that you are a busy man, trying to wrangle a west coast school to join the Big 12 and all, so I won’t take up too much of your time. I would, however, like to grab a couple of minutes from you to discuss those very same Horned Frogs, the team that saved your conference from being relegated to secondary status this year, and in particular, the fierce battle they participated in last Saturday against Kansas State.
Please forgive my French here, but WTF is with your officiating crews in the Big 12? Weekly I see crews that seem to be better trained and more competent working local high school matchups here in the Metroplex than I see on many Saturdays during Big 12 play. The officiating crews around the country for the other four Power Five conferences seem to be head and shoulders above your guys as well, and honestly, I can’t figure out why.
Let’s take a look at that Big 12 Championship game last Saturday at AT&T Stadium, since it’s the most recent example. Obviously, it’s the biggest game of the year for the Big 12, being your championship and with a playoff invite on the line for the Frogs. BIG stakes. HUGE. So that would mean the top officials get to work the game, just like in the NFL during the playoffs and Super Bowl, correct? So let me just pose the question to you – is this the best you have?
I’ve witnessed what I would classify as “subpar” officiating all season long during Big 12 contests, but it seemed to have reached an even higher level of incompetence on Saturday. I saw obvious incomplete passes called complete, targeting calls on hits that never came close to actually being targeting, pass interference calls made when it was clear there was no interference, and no flags coming out when there was obvious interference. Admittedly, many of these blown calls were ultimately overturned after replay reviews, and the calls corrected. But what I can’t understand, is how I could see from my 300 level seats in the stadium that the calls on the field were incorrect when they were made, and yet trained and well-compensated officials, who most times are less than 10 yards away from the plays, missed them. And so often.
Speaking of replay, when Max Duggan dove for the end zone trying to put TCU up in overtime, they marked him down at the one-yard line. After showing the replay on Jerry Jones’ giant TV, it was obvious to all 90,000 people in the building (and however many million were watching on TV) that Duggan A) had crossed the goal line for a touchdown, or B) was down at the one-inch line. Such a huge play at a huge moment in the game, but astonishingly TCU head coach Sonny Dykes had to burn a TCU timeout just to convince the replay official that it was a big enough play to take another look. They finally reviewed it, determined he was short of the goal line, and placed the ball on the two-and-a-half-foot line. Yes, the two-and-a-half-foot line. Again – WTF?
Then, perhaps even more outrageously, on the very next snap running back Kendre Miller took a handoff from Duggan, plowed forward into the line into a mass of white and black jerseys, and was also ruled short of the goal line by the line judge. It’s overtime, in the biggest game of the year, a potential play-off berth for TCU and the Big 12 on the line, and once again Big 12 replay official Brad Van Ark didn’t think it prudent to buzz down to the field for a replay, just to make sure the call was correct.
Maybe he was taking pity on referee Kevin Mar, who must have been exhausted from walking back and forth to the replay monitor so many times in the game already. Or maybe Jerry had sent word down that it was time for all amateurs to exit the building so the stadium turnaround for the following night’s Cowboys vs. Colts matchup could begin. I had no clue why these plays weren’t worthy of second looks then, and I certainly don’t know why now. I do know that the overhead shots that I’ve seen since certainly look like Miller had broken the plain.
Then, on 4th down, the Frogs handed the ball to Miller one more time, and to Kansas State’s credit they stopped him short. The Wildcats took their turn with the ball, drove about 12 yards on their possession, and kicked the winning field goal. Game over. And, I must admit, I thought there was a greater than zero chance that the Frogs’ playoffs chances might be as well.
Luckily for TCU and the Big 12, fourth-ranked USC had lost the night before in their championship game to Utah, which in retrospect seems to have cemented the Frogs playoff appearance. But that certainly wasn’t written in stone until the announcement was made on Sunday, not with two of the Committee’s darlings in Ohio State and Alabama lurking in the wings.
So, in games of such magnitude, how can the officiating be allowed to be so inadequate? It certainly shouldn’t happen in a sport, or conference for that matter, that generates the amount of revenue that college football and the Big 12 does. Remember, the Big 12 just signed a new six-year deal with Fox Sports and ESPN for $2.3 billion. Yes, billion. There’s no excuse to not have the best of the best every weekend, on the field and in the replay booth, and if that means full-time officials, so be it. At a minimum, those that perform so poorly should be excused from any further employment, and replacements should be trained and waiting in the wings.
That the Frogs could have been left out the playoff party because of officiating misques is inexcusable. Commissioner, with your conference’s two current marque names in Texas and Oklahoma exiting stage left to the SEC in 2025, you might want to make sure your own officials don’t sabotage the efforts of your remaining schools looking to perform on the big stage. Happy Holidays!
