Oregon Ducks, Ohio State Buckeyes Officiating Being Called Into Question

The Oregon Ducks beat the Ohio State Buckeyes 32-31 in the first top-three matchup in Autzen Stadium’s history. In such a tight game with such high stakes, every single penalty and decision by the officials is being heavily scrutinized now that the game has ended.

On third down in the third quarter, Ohio State’s defense was flagged for a pass interference penalty that should have given the Ducks offense an automatic first down and pushed them into Buckeyes territory.

However, the officials also penalized the Oregon offense for having an ineligible player downfield, causing the penalties to offset. Upon further review, it appears that the referees misread the Ducks formation.

In fact, the officials announced that the penalty on Oregon wide receiver Tez Johnson, yet Johnson was not even on the field for that play. The incorrect call wiped out an obvious pass interference on Ohio State.

On the Buckeyes’ final drive of the game, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was flagged for offensive pass interference after pushing off of his defender to create separation. Ohio State coach Ryan Day spoke to reporters about that specific penalty.

“We did a great job of getting down the field and continuing to fight, but the one play there…(defensive back) is grabbing on Jeremiah Smith; Jeremiah is fighting there. They called that flag there and that cost us, but it shouldn’t come down to one play,” Day said. “I’ve said that before. We want to leave no doubt. I felt like we should have done that tonight and we did not. So, then we put it in the hands of a call, and you don’t get it. That’s on us. We should never have let it come down to that.”

The flag on Smith pushed Ohio State out of field goal range, and the clock did not stop after the offensive penalty. With less than 30 seconds left in the game, the Oregon defense only needed a few more stops.

On the final play of the game, Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard scrambled for 12 yards back into field goal range, but he did not slide with enough time to call a timeout.

Online, Buckeyes fans have argued that there was one second remaining when Howard began to slide, and the officials should have granted Ohio State its final timeout of the game. However, Howard failed to pick up a first down which kept the clock running and did not allow enough time for the officials to notice Day signaling for a timeout.

On Ohio State’s first play of the drive, Oregon linebacker Jeffrey Bassa might have intercepted Howard’s pass intended for tight end Will Kacmarek, but the referees did not review the play. The Ohio State tight end never seemed to have control of the ball while going to the ground, and Bassa eventually came up with the ball.

While no officiating crew is ever perfect, Saturday night’s referees seemed to make a few questionable calls that affected both sides. Should Oregon and Ohio State meet for a rematch in the Big Ten Championship Game, a lot of eyes will be on the officiating crew as well as both teams.

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