Is not the forward/backwards pass issue.
I am somewhat bothered that we didn't see the play coming. We did in
our living room. The distance was longer than the kicker had ever
completed in his career, and - even if successful - would merely have
given LSU overtime on the road against a loud raucous crowd. It
seemed obvious that Mile would try to win the game in regulation.
What bothers me is that, when the first down as picked up, LSU
players were running to the line to spike the ball on 1st down to
stop the clock. I think that LSU was out of time outs at that point,
having used its last to set up the fake previously.
Had normal football been played, 6 or so seconds would have run off
the clock and LSU would have spiked the ball on first down; leaving
it three tries (and not a lot of time) at the end zone. There is also
the outside change of a penalty on the offense for not being set,
improper alignment, too many players on the field, as often happens
when one tries to run to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball and
stop the clock.
Instead, the official review acted as a "free" LSU timeout, giving it
a chance to freely substitute and be set when the clock started. More
importantly, LSU no longer had to waste first down on the spike -
giving it 4 shots at the end zone instead of 3.
LSU scored on its fourth try; a try it would not have had but for the
official review.
-Zeb
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