COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Now Officials Are the Ones Being Flagged

A banner season for college game officials, it hasn’t been. Upon further review . . .

--An obvious last-second pass interference infraction is seen by everyone except the dunderhead officiating crew in charge of monitoring such things at last Saturday’s Michigan-Michigan State game. The no-call costs Michigan its No. 1 ranking and its chances of controlling its Rose Bowl destiny.

As consolation, Dave Parry, Big Ten Conference supervisor of officials, phones Michigan Coach Gary Moeller and confirms that the officiating crew blew the crucial play. Big whoop.

--A week earlier, a frozen-above-the-neck Big Eight Conference crew fails to notice that Colorado has mistakenly been granted a fifth down during the waning moments of a game against Missouri. The Buffaloes use the extra down to score a touchdown and defeat the stunned Tigers.

Meanwhile, the offending crew is suspended indefinitely by the red-faced Big Eight. A footnote: Though no official announcement has been made, the crew members could return to action as early as this Saturday.

--And a week before the Colorado-Missouri fiasco, Tennessee linebacker Darryl Hardy apparently intercepts an Auburn pass in the fourth quarter that could help seal the game for the Volunteers. Three referees converge on the play, two of them ruling the ball was caught by Hardy for an interception. A third official overrules them and declares the ball was dropped. Replays seem to indicate otherwise. Auburn goes on to tie the game.

Big games. Bad calls.

Granted, officiating is an inexact profession, and for the most part, officials make correct call after correct call. But how hard is it to count to four? Missouri Coach Bob Stull would have appreciated it.

And how difficult is it to toss a flag when a receiver is being grabbed by the jersey and then tripped as he struggles to run a pass pattern on a two-point conversion attempt? After all, if the folks in Row ZZ can see it, the officials on the field ought to be able to notice the same thing. Or so Moeller thought.

The answer seems obvious: instant replay.

A replay probably would have prevented the fifth-down confusion at Missouri. It would have alleviated much of the indecision involving the would-be interception at Auburn. And if the NCAA altered the rules under which the NFL uses the video system, replay could have corrected the non-interference call at Michigan.

Of course, don’t hold your breath. Instant replay will make its collegiate debut about the same time Colorado Coach Bill (Good Sport) McCartney forfeits the victory over Missouri, which is to say never.

A couple of years ago, Art McNally, the NFL supervisor of officials, addressed the NCAA’s football rules committee on the league’s use of instant replay. The committee was intrigued, but nothing more.

“Basically, it would be nice in a perfect world,” said Mike Earle, the NCAA’s director of publications, who attends the January rules committee meetings.

The cost of instant replay is the major problem. The NFL paid $500,000 for equipment alone. A replay official is paid $1,000 a game. A communicator, who is in radio contact with the on-field officials, is paid $200. Add travel expenses and the cost of updating the equipment and it’s obvious why the NCAA has dismissed the idea.

Also, the same football rules must apply to all NCAA members, including Division I, II and III programs. It’s doubtful most of the powerful Division I schools could afford a scaled-down instant replay system. It’s all but guaranteed that no Division III program could.

Now that we’ve reached the halfway point of the season, some knee-jerk reaction seems in order. Submitted for approval are these observations:

--Three teams we never expected to see with these losing records: Hawaii (1-3), Arkansas (2-3) and Missouri (2-4).

--Three teams we never expected to see with these winning records: Georgia Tech (5-0), Indiana (4-0-1) and Texas Christian (5-1).

--Best players you still haven’t seen on network television: Wyoming defensive lineman Mitch Donahue and Northern Illinois quarterback Stacey Robinson.

--Future game we never thought would determine the regular-season No. 1 ranking: Nov. 3--Georgia Tech vs. Virginia at Charlottesville, Va.

--Most dominant team: none.

Early bowl update: The Cotton Bowl is sending representatives to Arizona-USC, Miami-Notre Dame, Florida State-Auburn, Iowa-Michigan and Michigan State-Illinois. Now that Texas A&M; has lost a Southwest Conference game, the Cotton Bowl is probably hoping for Texas (3-1), winner over Oklahoma last Saturday, to somehow finish the season 10-1 and travel to Dallas on New Year’s Day. Good luck. Texas still has to play, among others, Arkansas, Houston, Texas A&M; and surprising TCU.

Jim Brock, executive vice president of the Cotton Bowl, said he doesn’t expect to see more than two undefeated teams--Virginia and Nebraska--at regular season’s end. In fact, Brock said the eight New Year’s Day bowls will include their share of 9-2 and 8-3 teams, so balanced is the competition.

The Fiesta Bowl will have representatives at Virginia-Wake Forest, Colorado-Kansas, Georgia Tech-North Carolina, Florida State-Auburn, Tennessee-Alabama, Oklahoma State-Nebraska, Penn State-Boston College and Notre Dame-Miami.

Notice how the Fiesta’s list doesn’t include any Pacific 10 or Big Ten teams? Ever since the Rose Bowl switched networks, from NBC to ABC, and found itself in the same time slot as the Fiesta, the younger bowl has been off limits to the Pac-10 and the Big Ten. Until now.

“Our theory is simply that the Rose Bowl is a tremendous property, has great management, great tradition, great teams,” said John Junker, Fiesta Bowl executive director. “Because we happen to be in the same time period has nothing to do with the Rose Bowl’s viability.”

Junker said unofficial discussions have taken place between the Fiesta and the Big Ten and the Pac-10. He added that there is “an outside chance” a team from one of those conferences would ignore the ban and accept a Fiesta invitation.

“We’re just kind of hoping that the marketplace will determine that,” Junker said.

Wahoo-mania is spreading. Rich Murray, sports information director for No. 1-ranked Virginia, expects to receive more than 100 media requests for the Nov. 3 game against Georgia Tech. Unfortunately, the Scott Stadium press box can seat only 75 reporters. Even with alterations, Murray said the overflow media crowd might be switched to an end zone facility or, if all else fails, watch the game on big-screen television. Auxiliary seating in the stands is out of the question--the game is a sellout.

If Cal State Long Beach beats Fresno State Saturday, George Allen will get our vote for coach of the year--that is, if we had a vote. . . . Most impressive statistic about San Diego State quarterback Dan McGwire: 240 attempts, 134 completions, 1,921 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. His streak of 178 consecutive passes without an interception was broken on the last play of the UCLA game. . . . Kansas has played No. 1 Virginia and No. 2 Miami, and will play No. 4 Nebraska on Nov. 10. So far, Kansas Coach Glen Mason rates Miami the best team the Jayhawks have faced. . . . Has anyone noticed that Louisville is quietly putting together a bowl-worthy season. Coach Howard Schnellenberger’s Cardinals are 5-1-1. The real test will come Saturday when they travel to Pittsburgh. . . . Kentucky hasn’t won more than six games in 11 of the last 12 years. It doesn’t look as if the Wildcats will break the streak this season, either. New Coach Bill Curry is 2-4, with LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt, Florida and Tennessee remaining. Kentucky might be favored against Vandy.

Our top 10: (1) Virginia, (2) Miami, (3) Tennessee, (4) Auburn, (5) Nebraska, (6) Notre Dame, (7) Washington, (8) USC, (9) Houston, (10) BYU.

Our waiting list: Georgia Tech, Michigan, Florida State, Illinois and Mississippi.