Posted on 01/03/2025 7:09:06 AM PST by V_TWIN
The Bulldogs were in the second quarter of a scoreless game when quarterback Gunner Stockton dropped in a dime to wide receiver Arian Smith against Notre Dame’s defense for a 67-yard gain. As a defender dragged Stockton down, the side judge, JB Garza, was hugging Georgia’s sideline following the play downfield. However, Garza collided with Georgia redshirt sophomore cornerback Parker Jones, who was not suited up for the game and slightly crossed over the sideline in excitement. Garza flagged the play for interference, erasing the big gain and pushing Georgia’s offense back 15 yards to the Fighting Irish’s 26-yard line, leading to Bulldog’s kicking a field goal.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
He’s lucky the NCAA hasn’t fixed its site selection problem. Had they been playing at Notre Dame rather than the Sugar Bowl, he would probably freeze on his long walk home.
I liked the first round of the playoffs being played on campus. IMHO, ALL playoff games should be played on campus. Flip a coin. Whoever wins the flip hosts the game.
And that would mean a fair share of games being played in northern locales, in real football weather. Which they should be.
When I was a sideline photographer I witnessed a similar situation where a ref ran into a long lens, going full speed.
The lens was ripped from the camera body, wrecking both of them. And it wrecked the photographer who had their nose up against the camera.
That was close to a $10,000 mistake. And the ref didn’t blink twice.
Every other person looked down at the line and made sure we took half a step back. We only had to see that once.
I like your suggestion.....only one problem with it.
The almighty DOLLAR
It used to be when there were a few bowl games, going to a bowl was a reward for doing well, not to mete out punishment to both the players and the fans. Hence, the warm weather or domed locations.
Whereas, the NFL traditionally play at the home team stadiums for the playoffs. It wasn’t until the Superbowl that the NFL had neutral sites for the championship.
Part of the problem with this is that the athletic department insist on having as many people on the sideline as they could to sell the support appearance. When you bring all the redshirts, reserves, special teams like practice offenses and defenses and past players and place them on the limited sidelines while they are mixing with the actual players that move on and off the field, that’s a lot of people right there. A team can dress 55 players and have up to 85 on the active roster. With the addition of athletic staff to record the games, sideline officials for the sticks, coaches, wiring, television cameras and reporter staff, and all the others that were there by invite or working, that amounts to a lot of people in a limited space. It was crowded. For all we know he may have been knocked forward but it didn’t recognize to him. He was wrong, but it is a shared blame. I’ve officiated NCAA and National Federation and it happens more than people know. And when a number of people cross into that zone to complain about a call or congradulate a player, warranted or not, it can get crowded. The officials associations I worked with don’t want to call that but it was on national television and it did deviate the side judge’s path cutting his ability to keep up with the play.
wy69
“ When you bring all the redshirts, reserves, special teams like practice offenses and defenses and past players and place them on the limited sidelines “…Hollywood stars.
Solid post, whitney.
Yep. Further destroying bowl games usefulness by having them at a non neutral site. I say just start the playoffs on the first games of the season.
True — but the moment college football devolved into the poll and bowl system for picking “mythical national champion,” the homefield edge was a constant corruption.
I’n ok with one team or the other hosting the game — since college football should be played on college campuses — as long as the homefield advantage is random. Flip a coin.
Over time, the northern teams would get their share. Football is supposed to be an outdoor sport. Weather is part of the game. Man up and deal with it.
Neutral sites are not a solution unless they are also regionally distributed. Southern and west coast teams should not get to play every year in their region, often on their own field, in front of mostly their fans and in their weather.
I would be perfectly ok with Ohio State having to play Texas in the Cotton Bowl next week if that was the result of a coin flip. I’m not ok with the NCAA deciding that the northern teams always have to travel. The SEC and Southern California teams should have to play their fair share of championship games in January in a blizzard in Ann Arbor, South Bend, etc.
Does the article ever get around to mentioning what the headline says?
It’s at the very beginning
None of the conference champions won their playoff games. Tossing in ACC Champ Clemson, they went 0-5.
They need to open two slots up during the regular season to have teams in the upper tier play each other, that way every team will be tested against top teams before the playoff selections are made.
So the lesson learned is, don’t sweat winning the conference championship, if you know you’re already in.
That seems to have worked out for Texas and Penn State. And Ohio State and Notre Dame didn’t even have to bother with a conference championship game.
It also appears that the “bye week” wasn’t much help.
No. It doesn’t say anything about “poking fun.”
Should Indiana and SMU even have been in it?
Definitley some corrections need to be made. What is the sense of conference championship games (Texas - Georgia and Ohio State - Indiana being two examples) when both participants still made the playoff regardless of the outcome (other than money I mean)? And the traditional bowl games - Rose, Orange, Cotton e.g. - do not want to give up their money either. Now we are down to four teams and still two rounds to go - the finalists will have played fifteen or sixteen games (almost an NFL schedule). The FCS level has a 16-team playoff and handles this correctly but there are too many moneyed interests at the upper level competing for the bucks for a sensible system.
As opposed to?
I probably would have let in South Carolina, if I had the vote, but it’s not as if any of the teams behind them had a great a case, neither.
Parity is coming to college football. There are no more dominant teams, any of 4 or 5 can win it, depending on who is the better team on that particular day.
Sorry, OSU DID NOT play in the Big 10 Championship - Indiana and Oregon.
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