Sports

SEC Refs Under Fire For Missed Call On Texas A&M’s Game-Winning TD Vs. Notre Dame

#College Football
by Last Updated
Marcel Reed, Texas A&M Aggies

© Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images


The Texas A&M football team went into South Bend and took down Notre Dame on Saturday, 41-40. The final play of that contest is now being scrutinized.

An SEC officiating crew is under fire for a missed holding call on the Aggies‘ game-winning touchdown pass. The no-call helped the road team leave with a win.

This was far from the only miss on the day from the refs. One play did not decide the game.

Notre Dame had plenty of self-inflicted wounds, including a botched PAT that gave the Ags a chance to take the lead on the final drive.

Calls went against the Fighting Irish. Calls went against Texas A&M. The most glaring miss of the night, however, had a major impact on the final outcome.

SEC refs under fire after Texas A&M football win.

The Aggies needed to drive 74 yards in under three minutes trailing 40-34. The Irish had taken a lead on the previous possession thanks to a Jermiyah Love touchdown run. The end of the game was pure chaos.

Notre Dame missed the extra point to give Texas A&M hope.

They then appeared to tie the game on the ensuing kick return, which was called back for a controversial hold.

Notre Dame would have chances to end the game on defense. At one point in the drive, the Aggies faced a 3rd-and-16 only to be bailed out by a defensive holding call.

It was one of three third- and fourth-down situations in which the Fighting Irish were unable to make a stand. The final instance decided the game.

Notre Dame forced Texas A&M into a fourth-and-goal from the 11-yard line. QB Marcel Reed found Nate Boerkircher in the endzone on a scramble play.

The Irish’s defensive line forced Reed from the pocket. It appears a hold on the offense allowed the passer a few extra moments to find his receiver.

The officiating crew was from the SEC as Notre Dame was the home team. The missed call benefitted a conference member in a huge road upset.

The Fighting Irish aren’t happy about the no-call, though there are plenty of other plays that impacted the team in the loss. It’s a shame the game ended in controversial fashion.

Why was the call missed?

Former NFL referee Terry McAuley weighed in on what he called a “patently egregious missed offensive holding foul.”

He called it a “total mechanical breakdown by at least two, maybe three, officials who should have called this.”

McAuley says, to put it simply, the referees’ eyes were in the wrong spots. No SEC bias played into the missed call, though it would be easy to drum up the conspiracy given how the game ended.

Notre Dame was on the wrong end of this missed hold. Unfortunately, it might’ve just cost them the game.