Michigan State Football: Refs admit crucial mistake in Arizona State game
Michigan State football lost a tough game to Arizona State on Saturday and even though it wasn’t the refs’ fault, they made a critical mistake.
“Don’t blame the refs.”
That was the common theme among the fanbase on Saturday as Michigan State dropped a home game to Arizona State after being the better team for a good 59 minutes.
But the game was decided on missed field goals, uncapitalized-on drives into Arizona State territory and the defense allowing a critical touchdown in the final minute after the coaching staff decided not to put a spy on a mobile Jayden Daniels with a four-man rush.
This loss was definitely not on the refs, but a mistake by the Pac-12 officiating crew cost the Spartans one final attempt at a field goal.
No, I’m not talking about the 12 men on the field call that was 100 percent on the coaching staff for trying to rush a field goal attempt after waiting too long to make a decision on second down but rather the play after.
Matt Coghlin kicked the game-tying field goal with too many men on the field and got another try with six seconds left from five yards further out and missed by a mile.
But, according to the Pac-12, he should have gotten another try after Arizona State illegally leaped over the Michigan State line on the missed attempt — a 15-yard penalty. The refs missed it, but it would have given the Spartans a third attempt from 32 yards out which is more than in Coghlin’s range.
And the Pac-12 admitted the mistake on Sunday night.
Pac-12 admits officiating error on final play of Arizona St-Mich St. “There should’ve been a foul called for leaping. An ASU defensive player took running start & leapt over kicking team’s line in an attempt to block the kick.” MSU would’ve had an untimed down 15 yards from spot
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 16, 2019
Admitting they were wrong is nice to heart — sort of — but it doesn’t put the points on the board and it doesn’t do Michigan State any favors. Sure, it’s nice to acknowledge when you make a mistake, but what about one that could have altered the ending of a game? What kind of punishment is this crew going to receive?
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Mark Dantonio sounded bitter when talking about the officiating crew after the game, and for good reason. While he and his staff botched a number of scoring opportunities and coughed up a sure win, he was right about the crew needing “to be looked into” because it was horrid.