One of my friends is an official on one of the ACC Crews. Each crew has the same men and are graded on efficiency and correct calls. My friend’s crew gets rewarded almost every year with a bowl job. Just as there is in any profession, there are major screw ups working. Unfortunately, he states that he’ll never get upgraded to the NFL because they only hire affirmative action and former NFL players to officiate.
I'd be interested to hear his take on this....and I know it's RARE RARE for a league to throw their officials under the bus....even when refs deserve it, the conferences, including the NFL, circles the wagon and come up with all kinds of tortured logic to try and justify obviously bad calls.
The ACC obviously thought there was no excuse for that line judge to miss the knee down....right in front of him....and no excuse to miss 2 or 3 illegal blocks.....and no excuse for the replay official to take this long and still get it wrong, which he did in the first quarter too on a phony Duke fumble as they were about to score. I sense anger in Swofford's comments, and embarrassment. I don't think Swofford believes that bull about the officials conferring on that other flag either. I don't. That's CYA...only they didn't get it covered very well.
It's the damndest thing since that Big East official gave Michigan the first down against SC when there was clearly an inch or two between the ball and the marker...in a bowl game. TRIVIA: that's what led to that historic hit by Clowney knocking the guys helmet off. It was the very next play. Only what happened in Duke Miami was far more devastating. 4 mistakes, on one play, the last play, and all four mistakes favor one team?