USC coach Lincoln Riley voiced his frustration Tuesday with the criteria used to overturn a goal-line stand by his defense on a critical fourth-down play in the final minute of the Trojans’ 24-17 loss at Minnesota on Saturday.
Faced with a fourth-and-goal from inside USC’s 1-yard line with 59 seconds remaining in a tie game, the Gophers went with a quarterback sneak for a second consecutive play.
Within the pile of bodies, it was difficult to evaluate whether the football ever reached the goal-line, and the officiating crew ruled that Gopher quarterback Max Brosmer been stopped short. However, after reviewing the play, they reversed the call and awarded Brosmer a go-ahead touchdown. The Trojans got the football back but were unable to score a potential game-tying touchdown as they fell to 3-2 (1-2 Big Ten).
“The explanation that we got on the last play was that they believed or thought that the runner had scored and they felt like that was enough to overturn it,” Riley said. “I have not been given any explanation why we ignored the part of the rule that obviously states that to overturn something that it has to be absolutely, completely clear cut.”
Further complicating the call: as a result of the scrum, the football eventually made its way onto the ground and into the hands of a USC defender. But ultimately, the outcome of the review indicated the officials believed Brosmer scored before any potential fumble.
“They told me that they believed he had scored,” Riley said. “But when you get those sneak plays like, that nobody can see the ball. The first time you see the ball, it’s on the ground. When it came out, which they admit nobody knows when it came out, and that’s the difficult part.”
Riley noted USC would have taken less issue with the play’s outcome had it been initially ruled a touchdown on the field. But since it was ruled a defensive stop on the field, the Trojans were miffed when the call was overturned.
“It’s one of those that I think you look back and say that if the call on the field had been a touchdown, there’s no way they’re going to overturn it and I would have understood,” he said. “I probably wouldn’t even have called them, to be honest.”
