Thursday
October 20, 2005
sports. michigandaily. com
sports@michigandaily.com
PORTlSirdigan 3t'l
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Two big,
unsung
plays0 help
Varsity
By Gabe Edelson
Daily Sports Writer
Two plays - kick returner Steve
Breaston's 41-yard runback and receiver
Mario Manningham's game-winning touch-
down catch with no time left on the clock
- have received most of the attention for
giving the Wolverines a dramatic 27-25 vic-
tory over No. 8 Penn State last Saturday.
But two less-heralded developments during
Michigan's final drive may have proven just as
critical to the outcome.
Coach Lloyd Carr used the Wolverines' sec-
ond timeout after quarterback Chad Henne's
four-yard completion to wideout Carl Tabb,
brought up a second-and-six with Michigan
on Penn State's 32-yard line. When Carr sig-
naled for the break, he immediately glanced at
the scoreboard for the time.
"When I asked for that timeout, I imme-
diately looked at the clock, and I saw 32 sec-
onds,' Carr said.
But college football rules state that the ball
must be spotted before the referee can grant
a clock stoppage. By the time the referee had
set the ball on the hash mark, acknowledged
Carr's request and halted the clock's progress,
just 28 seconds remained. Carr subsequently
conversed with officials on the Wolverines'
sideline in an attempt to sort out the succes-
sion of events and restore a few precious ticks
to the clock for Michigan's last-ditch series.
"(The linesman's) job on that play was to
spot the ball for the previous play," Carr said.
He told me, 'Coach, I had to spot the ball.'
I asked him if he would check with the ref-
eree. And the referee fortunately was doing
a good job because he saw it, and he said to
me, 'I think there were, by the time the call
was made, by the time it got in there, it was
30 (seconds left).' He said, 'We're going to
put two seconds back on.' "
Manningham might never have had the
chance to catch the game-clinching pass if
not for Carr's attention to detail. Time would
Sure, replay hurt a lot
in the past, but it' helpful
Home Run Throwback. Music City Miracle.
For Buffalo Bills fans like me, those are six
of the most depressing words in the English
language (though no phrase will ever hurt more than
"wide right"). It was Jan. 8, and the Bills were playing
the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round of the
2000 NFL playoffs. With 16 seconds left in the close
contest, my beloved Bills took a 16-15 lead.
Sixteen seconds - I still cringe if the
clock stops at that time, no matter what
sport I'm watching. The image of Kevin
Dyson running into the end zone after the
lateral pass has been imprinted on my brain
forever.
At the time, I was positive it was a for-
ward pass and equally sure that the referee
would reverse the call after the review. Of
course, the play stood as called, and Buffalo
retained its place as one of America's most ST
hard-luck sports cities. IT
It took a few days - and at least 100 W
viewings of the play in question - but I Wt h
eventually came to terms with the fact that
team. Southern Cal coach Pete Carroll hates replay so
he declined to use reviews - which resulted in a num-
ber of questionable calls that benefited both teams.
All Division I-A teams should adopt similar - if
not identical - rules regarding instant replay. Carroll
and coaches like him will continue to argue that replay
destroys the flow of the game, and critics will complain
that pausing to review controversial calls makes close
contests less exciting.
Well, it might not have measured up
to Southern Cal-Notre Dame, but I don't
think anyone would call last weekend's
Michigan-Penn State game boring,
reviews and all.
Still, instant replay isn't flawless in
college football, and the system needs to
change. But the NCAA shouldn't copy the
NFL's review policy entirely.
After seeing the Big Ten's system in
action, I think it's ridiculous that the NFL
restricts how many plays can be reviewed
each game - at least outside the final
two minutes of the half. Sometimes there
EPHANIE
VRIGHT
ht on Target
MIKE HULSEBUS/Daily
Quarterback Chad Henne led the Wolverines down the field on the final drive to win the game
due to coach Lloyd Cart's heads-up request for two additional seconds.
have expired after Henne's incompletion to
Breaston on the snap immediately preceding
the last play. Still, Carr downplayed his actions
as typical of most dedicated coaches.
"I have done that a number of times," Carr
said. "I think every coach does. You are always
looking at that clock and you are hoping one of
those officials close to you will see the time."
The incompletion to Breaston was, ironi-
cally, also instrumental to Michigan's ultimate
triumph. It's not every day that a dropped pass
is reason to celebrate, but it was for the Wol-
verines on Saturday.
With six seconds lefI and Michigan on
the 10-yard line, Henne had good protec-
tion and time to throw. The quarterback
aimed and fired at Breaston, who was
standing just inside the five-yard line on
the left side of the field. But Breaston
wasn't in a position to get out of bounds,
and he was immediately tackled by Penn
State cornerback Justin King, letting go
of the ball in the process. If the redshirt
junior would have kept possession, time
would have expired before the Wolver-
ines could get off another play and the
game would have ended with the Nittany
Lions on top, 25-21. It was a lucky break
for Michigan, since it allowed the Wol-
verines to get off one final snap - the
now-famous completion from Henne to
Manningham.
"That was one of my mistakes," Henne said.
"I didn't think (Breaston) would actually get
his hands on it, but it was close enough for him
to make a play, and I'm just thankful that he
dropped it and we had that one second left."
But all of a sudden, Henne found himself
with one final opportunity.
"You have one second to go," Henne said,
"and why not come off with a smile? You have
one chance left to make a play."
Henne did just that, thanks largely to a cou-
ple added seconds and a fortunate drop.
the officials made the right call. Even though I hated
watching the Titans advance to the Super Bowl, I took
some solace in knowing that instant replay enabled the
officials to take extra time to make sure they got it right.
That play is a big reason why I support the use of
instant replay in both professional and college football.
Even so, I think there are major flaws in the way it is
currently being used.
One of the biggest issues with replay in college
football is that it hasn't been uniformly adopted across
Division I-A. The Big Ten introduced instant replay to
the college game last season, and the experiment was
widely seen as a success. Perhaps the best indication of
that is the spread of the practice this year - nine of the
11 Division I-A conferences have implemented some
form of replay.
And in most cases, instant replay has enabled offi-
cials to make better calls. The first half of this year's
Michigan-Michigan State game is a perfect example.
Michigan safety Willis Barringer appeared to intercept
Drew Stanton but was stripped of the ball (linebacker
Prescott Burgess ultimately recovered the fumble). The
initial on-the-field ruling called it an incomplete pass,
but after Michigan used a timeout, the referee reviewed
the play and overturned the call, crediting Barringer
with an interception.
The officials got it right on their second look, and
that's ultimately the point.
Even better evidence in support of instant replay can
be seen when it isn't used, as in the Southern Cal-Notre
Dame game last weekend. Because it is not affiliated
with a conference, Notre Dame leaves the decision
about whether to use instant replay up to the visiting
are no questionable calls in a game, and coaches seem
to use their challenges simply because they can. Other
times it seems as if half the calls should be reviewed yet
only a fraction of them can be.
Even though it adds time to the game, the Big
Ten's replay policy is an improvement over the
NFL's. Rather than estimating how many question-
able calls the average game has, the Big Ten sets no
limit on reviews, and I think it gives officials the best
chance of getting it right. But it's equally problematic
to prohibit coaches from challenging calls entirely.
We wouldn't need instant replay if officials didn't
make mistakes, so why does the Big Ten leave the
decision about whether to review a play up to a single
official in the booth?
I think the best use of instant replay is a compromise
between the NFL's coaches-only policy and the Big
Ten's unlimited reviews: Don't limit the number of
times officials can use replay, but give coaches at least
one opportunity to request a review per game.
If a coach thinks the officials missed a call, he should
be able to challenge the ruling. In my opinion, it's a
check on human error. With no limit on how many
plays can be reviewed, coaches shouldn't need more
than one challenge per game. And limitless reviews
increase the officials' ability to get any questionable call
right - whether it happens in the first quarter or the
game's final play.
And hopefully - someday - there'll be indisput-
able video evidence that benefits the Bills.
- Stephanie Wright can be reached
at smwr@umich.edu.
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