It really was Sooners’ ball, replay official says

Just when you thought you’d heard the last of ReplayGate, an Oklahoma newspaper has reported that the replay official for the Oklahoma-Oregon game says he knew that Oklahoma recovered a pivotal onside kickoff late in the game.

Gordon Riese told the Oklahoman that replay rules prevented him from correcting on-field officials who made the wrong call and awarded possession to Oregon, even though it was clear to Riese that Oklahoma’s Allen Patrick had recovered the ball.

“I saw the ball laying on the ground, the Oklahoma kid picks up the ball with his knee on the ground,” he told the paper. “I knew it was Oklahoma ball.”

That part of the play was not reviewable, however, so Riese couldn’t tell the on-field officials of their error.

Riese also said that if he had seen the correct angle of the replay, he would have awarded possession to Oklahoma because an Oregon player touched the ball before it had traveled 10 yards.

But he said the only replay angle he saw came from Oklahoma’s end zone, which he said prevented him from making the correct call. Instead, Oregon took advantage of the officiating blunder and scored a last-minute touchdown to win, 34-33.

Oklahoma is 9-2 but would be 10-1 and possibly a part of national championship discussion if not for the officiating errors at Oregon.

“I can’t let it go,” said Riese, who was suspended a game for the error and took a leave of absence for the rest of this season. “It’s something we officials have just been schooled with -- to get the call right -- and I didn’t do it that day. It’s inexcusable.”

No crying in football

Texas Coach Mack Brown warned his players that their game today against Texas A&M; would be an emotional game.

The Longhorns need a victory in the rivalry game to clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game, and it’s the final home game for the seniors, who will be honored in a ceremony before the game.

“If you’re going to cry, let’s cry after,” Brown said he told the team. “Because you’ll definitely be crying unless you play well and win.”

End of the Rainbows?

Hawaii finally got ranked. Now the Warriors have to prove they deserve to stay in the Associated Press top 25.

“It would be pretty embarrassing for us to get ranked for one week and then fall out of it,” receiver Davone Bess said. “We definitely want to show up Saturday and let everyone across the country know that we’re a good, legit football team, and we’re not just a fluke.”

The Warriors play Purdue on Saturday, and quarterback Colt Brennan said the team was eager to show it can stand up to a solid Big Ten team.

“This week is a challenge for us, obviously,” Brennan said. “We’re not happy with being No. 25. We want to be a lot higher.”

Hawaii, the winner of eight games in a row, has scored at least 41 points in those games, with a season average of 49.2 points per game.

Brennan is six touchdowns short of tying the NCAA single-season record of 54.

This week marks the first time since 1992 that Hawaii has appeared in the top 25, when the Warriors were 11-2 and ended the season ranked 20th.

Will he stay or will he go?

Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore said that school officials were continuing to evaluate the Crimson Tide football program but did not shed any light on the future of beleaguered Coach Mike Shula.

“This is not a process that I wish to discuss at length in a public forum,” Moore said in a statement.

Speculation on whether Shula would continue as Alabama’s coach has been a hot topic since Alabama was upset by Mississippi State on Nov. 4 and has been rampant since the Crimson Tide lost, 22-15, Saturday to rival Auburn, finishing the season 6-6.

Shula’s contract runs through the 2011 season and pays him $1.55 million a year.

Mustangs pardoned

Southern Methodist, infamous for institutionalized cheating so egregious that the NCAA shut down the football program for the 1987 season, is bowl-eligible but on the bubble.

A win Saturday at Rice would clinch a bowl spot for SMU (6-5, 4-3 Conference USA), its first since the 1984 Aloha Bowl.

“There is life after death,” SMU Athletic Director Steve Orsini said, “and we’d like to think it’s now at SMU.”

-- Compiled by Peter Yoon