Talked to a friend last night who is a Purdue grad and he brought up some information that he heard from a college football analyst regarding the forward progress ruling that i had never heard. He could not tell me who he was listening to or where he heard it. He was in Indiana for the holidays, so it is likely a local analyst or talk show host.
The explanation he gave me is that officials have been making rulings like what they did last Thursday for about 10 years, despite the fact that the NCAA rule books do not include this as an official ruling. In a situation where the official believes that a player is pulling a teammate over the goal line or the line to make, and it is 4th down, they will rule that forward progress is stopped so that the team doing the pulling is not rewarded for the penalty.
Now,, if i were in a totally unbiased position, i might see where this would be logical. But, it is still making up a rule that does not currently exist But, i am not unboased and from my point of view, what Fant did had no bearing on whether Wright stuck the ball over the goalline. It did not improve Wright's position. Furthermore, we were screwed twice in 2010 (LSU and UNC) by rulings that were changed after that season to keep teams from benefitting. Now, if i am to believe this, we are being punished again by officials making up a rule that does not currently exist. As i told my friend, i am getting really tired of being on the wrong end of situations like this..
The explanation he gave me is that officials have been making rulings like what they did last Thursday for about 10 years, despite the fact that the NCAA rule books do not include this as an official ruling. In a situation where the official believes that a player is pulling a teammate over the goal line or the line to make, and it is 4th down, they will rule that forward progress is stopped so that the team doing the pulling is not rewarded for the penalty.
Now,, if i were in a totally unbiased position, i might see where this would be logical. But, it is still making up a rule that does not currently exist But, i am not unboased and from my point of view, what Fant did had no bearing on whether Wright stuck the ball over the goalline. It did not improve Wright's position. Furthermore, we were screwed twice in 2010 (LSU and UNC) by rulings that were changed after that season to keep teams from benefitting. Now, if i am to believe this, we are being punished again by officials making up a rule that does not currently exist. As i told my friend, i am getting really tired of being on the wrong end of situations like this..
