Big Ten Says Illini Fumble Needed Review
Even though we have forgotten that nightmare that was last
November 10th, it is still nice to get some closure.
By Ryan Leonardo
Tressel didn’t want
to use his challenge that early
After an 80-yd run, Illini running
back Daniel Dufrene coughed it up at the 3 yard line. The ball rolled into the endzone and was
called out of bounds by side judge Joe Duncan.
The replay clearly showed that this was a terrible call. ABC’s Bob Griese said “There’s no doubt the
ball came out and it was a fumble.”
Coach Tressel decided not to use his only challenge that early. Starting this year, if your first challenge
is upheld, you get a second one.
Crew won’t be doing any ’08 Big Ten games
The Big Ten has not
renewed the contract for referee Steve Pamon, head of that crew that
night. This is not the only reason,
though. Pamon has come under fire with
criticism from 2007’s Penn State/Purdue game, as well as numerous allegations
of casino gambling, child abuse, and sexual harassment.
Making sense of it
We all know the crew blew that
call. I remember many times over the
past couple of years that I couldn’t believe some of the non-calls. That is something that every team deals with. It did hurt us in the game, but not our chances
of getting into the title game, with some help.
Sometimes calls are hard to make, and it cannot be more disappointing to
have an outcome of a game decided by a missed call. It honestly wasn’t the case here.
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