Photo: @DawgOutWest

Referees are far from perfect but they try to do the best they can given the circumstances and pressure on them to get it right. Having said that, there are times where a call can be so totally wrong that you actually question if a referee is competent enough to even do their job. This is one of those times.

In an FCS game between Eastern Washington and Idaho, the game was tied 21-21 and late in the fourth quarter, Eastern Washington was lining up for the go-ahead field goal. A chip shot 22 yarder should be simple enough and kicker Seth Harrison did just that. Problem was, the ref inexplicably ruled that the field goal was no good.

What seems to have happened was the ref, who will remain nameless to save him from further embarrassment, seemed to be adjusting his mask and failed to see the ball. When the ball bounced off the scoreboard at the Kibble Dome, the ref seemed to assume the ball bounced off the upright and rule that the field goal was no good. And because it’s a bare bones broadcast on Pluto (the app, not the planet) refs couldn’t really overturn the call on replay. Even though you can tell in the clip that the trajectory of the ball would indicate it was kicked in between the uprights.

Fortunately for the ref, Idaho scored a touchdown and won 28-21 so for all intents and purposes, the field goal wouldn’t have mattered anyway. Even still, that was a rather strange call to get wrong.

[Photo: @DawgOutWest]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them.

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