Upon Further Review (Week 6)

How to Get the Call

In the game of football, referees reign supreme. In theory, they are there to make sure both teams play by the rules. While some penalty calls are cut and dried, others depend on the "judgment" of the official.

As we have often seen, the decisions they make can directly affect the outcome of a game.

This is where the head coaches come in. While prowling the sidelines, coaches will try different approaches to get the officials to see things their way.

Some coaches play buddy-buddy, while others try to intimidate. Some coaches appeal to the referee's sense of fairness, while others simply beg.


In case you were wondering which approach LSU coach Les Miles uses, well, the mystery ends here.

(Photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

How About a Nice Big Bear(cat) Hug?

There are 9 unbeaten teams remaining in the FBS (Division I-A). Can you name them?

Come on. The first few are easy. Florida, Alabama, Texas, and Boise State. From there it gets a little tougher... Iowa, TCU, and Kansas.

The last two play each other Thursday night when South Florida hosts Cincinnati. Yep. South Florida and Cincinnati.

The Bearcats have slowly climbed to number 8 in the AP poll. They have a quarterback who is quietly piling up some great numbers. Tony Pike has completed 116 of his 174 pass attempts for 1493 yards with 13 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. He is starting to appear on some Heisman Watch lists.

My favorite Bearcat is wide receiver Mardy Gilyard. He's having a great senior year. In five games he has 38 catches for
517 yards and 7 touchdowns. That means he's on pace to have 91 receptions in the regular season. Not bad.

But if you are a faithful reader of Illegal Procedure, you might remember that, in last year's game against South Florida, Mardy Gilyard gave the world one of the most sincere and heartwarming moments of kindness I have ever witnessed in a college football game.

After sprinting through the endzone in an attempt to catch an overthrown pass, his momentum carried him into the stands where he crashed into a young boy. The aftermath was captured by ESPN cameras...



I don't know how good Cincinnati really is. But I know that I am a Mardy Gilyard fan for life.

The Bone Head Call of the Week

Arizona quarterback Nick Foles had a respectable passing night against Washington on Saturday. He finished with 39 completions on 54 attempts for 384 yards.

The Wildcats had surged to a 33-21 lead with 4:16 left in the game. Normally, it's pretty hard to screw that up.

Normally.

With help from a personal foul penalty, Washington was able to charge down the field for a touchdown at the 2:55 mark. Arizona still ahead 33-28.

With two timeouts left, Washington opted to kick deep and play defense.

After a nice return, Arizona started on their own 37 yard line with 2:49 on the clock. On first down, Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes called a play that head coach Mike Stoops later said was a "run-pass option."

Here is what I want to know: WHY?

Any idiot can figure out that three handoffs and a punt - with Washington burning its timeouts in between - will leave the Huskies pinned deep in their own end needing a touchdown with maybe a minute left in the game and no timeouts. And that's assuming that you don't manage to get a single yard with your three running plays.

Foles - with the decision apparently left in his hands - threw a pass. The result can be seen in the video below:



Washington then went for two, and won 36-33.

Granted, the odds of that kind of play happening are pretty slim, but that's why you keep the ball on the ground.

Unless you're a bonehead.