Ohio State’s offense came to play on Saturday at the Big House, facing off against arch rival Michigan in their biggest game of the year.
Leading the way for the Buckeyes was the trio of quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, with both receivers making their return to the field after missing last week’s game due to injury.
Smith, who entered the year as a Heisman candidate and remains one of the top weapons in the country, was able to strike early and extend Ohio State’s lead. Facing fourth-and-5 inside Michigan territory, Sayin found Smith down the sideline for a score.
At least, it looked like a touchdown. You would struggle to find any football fan in the world who viewed the play from that angle and came to the conclusion that that was not a touchdown. But as the play was reviewed, it became clear that the ball took a slight bobble in Smith’s arms before he crossed the goal line, and then stepped out of bounds in the end zone.
This is one of those replays that makes you questions the utility of replay itself. Of course, replay is a great tool for making sure officials “make the right call.” At the same time, if you look at this play and think “You know what, that’s not a touchdown that’s actually a fumble out of the end zone that should result in a touchback and change of possession,” you would both be making the right call, and sound a little ridiculous.
This puts referees in a tough spot, because we all got to see the replay and we all know the rule. Ultimately, Smith’s touchdown remained a touchdown, and while the result feels just to the spirit to the game (and The Game), at least to your humble blogger here, it also understandably left many fans confused.
Opinions ranged wildly.
Again, I tend to agree with the touchdown side of the debate. Even if slowing it down and looking at every inch and then lining up that play with the rulebook shows that a touchback would have been the “correct” call, that’s simply not a football world I want to live in.
Football is a complicated sport, and becomes even more complicated when a player appears to possibly lose possession while crossing the goal line. Hopefully the game ends in a score differential great enough to ensure that this one touchdown didn’t ultimately decide the outcome.
