Refs, eventually, got call right, and that’s what counts

Well, at least they got it correct in the end. And Karl Benson is right. That 22-minute officials’ review of a fairly routine situation during Hawaii’s victory over Louisiana Tech “was an embarrassment to the WAC.” The commissioner felt so bad about it that he issued a public apology to everyone involved on Tuesday.

If the replay reviewer at Joe Aillet Stadium had been allowed to hold his ground, LaTech would have gotten the football on the UH 22 with the score still close, early in the game, because he thought the Warriors had been allowed to run a fifth down without gaining a first down.

Since Hawaii and LaTech were — at least before the game — considered contenders for the league championship, this call might have had plenty of bearing on the WAC race. As Bulldogs coach Sonny Dykes said, the officiating crew performed “surgery with a chainsaw.” Somehow, though, the patient survived, and the better team on this day won the game.

Why did it take so long to come up with a ruling, and why was it initially wrong when what was right appeared so obvious? You only had to see the replay once to know that a timeout was called — even a LaTech player acknowledged it with a signal to his teammates.

Perhaps this officiating crew was so worried about a legacy as a laughing stock it became a victim of paralysis by analysis. Although there was really no side of caution to err upon, there was however precedent: two games, one that was corrected afterward, and another that wasn’t and will continue to live in infamy long after we’ve all forgotten this little fiasco. Both affected teams that were at the highest level of the game at the time. It’s been 21 years since the Fifth Down Game many of us remember, and 71 years since the original one.

The first Fifth Down Game was Nov. 16, 1940 when Cornell — then a 6-0 powerhouse ranked No. 2 in the nation — was playing at Dartmouth. Dartmouth held Cornell scoreless and led 3-0 late. But the Big Red had first and goal at the Indians’ 6-yard line. On fourth down at the 5, Cornell threw an incomplete pass. But the officials did not give Dartmouth the ball, and on “fifth down” Cornell scored a touchdown and apparently won the game 7-3.

Afterward, the officials were informed that they might have erred and film confirmed it. Cornell’s athletic director and coach decided they should forfeit the game, and Dartmouth accepted.

Fifty years later — Oct. 6, 1990 — Colorado beat Missouri 33-31 with the help of a fifth down. With the ball near the goalline and time running out, an official failed to turn the down marker after second down during Colorado’s final timeout. Quarterback Charles Johnson spiked the ball to stop the clock on what he thought was third down, but was actually fourth. Colorado was allowed to run another play, Johnson kept and was ruled to have broken the plane of the goal line for a game-winning touchdown.

After the mistake was discovered, the officials stood by their original ruling and no forfeit was offered. Colorado finished the season 11-1-1. Georgia Tech finished as the nation’s only undefeated team at 11-0-1. This was before there was a BCS championship game, and the Buffaloes and Yellow Jackets split the national championship in the polls.

Hawaii wasn’t given a fifth down on Saturday, despite what the replay official thought he saw or didn’t see or if he was worried about history. That 22-minute delay was indeed ridiculous. But if LaTech had been given the ball near UH’s red zone and it changed the course of the game, it would have been even more embarrassing for the WAC.