No use in sugar coating it & this isn't sour grapes. Bama is good enough on their own without the SEC office & Officiating crews carrying their water as well. Saw a couple of mention in the random game thread, but this deserved its own. In the last 15 minutes, I've seen a Bama player lead with the crown of his helmet right to the face of an A&M player on a kickoff. No flag. No review. SEC office even covered for the officiating crew by saying that it was not a defenseless player. Defenseless players is only 1 possible way to have a targeting foul as later pointed out by CBS. Few plays later, Bama throws an int. On the return Bama's RB gets knocked the eff out trying to make the tackle with minimal arguably no crown of the helmet contact but the defeseless player rule is invoked. A&M defender ejected. If the A&M player was guilty of targeting, the Bammer sure as hell was triple guilty but no penalty/no review of that & add in a call from the SEC office to cover for the bullshit non call. A&M was called for PI on a terrible call that only gets called if you're playing Bama. I've watched the Bama OL grab A&M pass rushers and pull them down to the ground as they were falling. Not a single flag. Like I said before, Bama is good enough on their own, but it's impossible to even try to compete with them when the SEC office and its selected game officials move heaven and earth to take care of Bama. It's complete utter and unmistakable bullshit. Hell, they don't even try to disguise it. If this continues, and it happens every damn year it seems (see UF during Tebow era), the SEC just needs to come out at the beginning of the season and appoint who they want to be champion and stop the whole theatrics about giving half a shit about anyone other than their chosen team of any given year. What I've seen today is inexcusable bullshit, and everyone involved from the SEC's Office of the President all the way down to the replay officials should be castrated and force fed their own testicles.
So with the Bama one, was a flag thrown, then a review overturned it? Also, can anyone remember a review downgrading a targeting call? I cannot.
Is it even possible, according to rules, to completely overturn the penalty? Or are they just looking at whether or not there should be an ejection?
No flag. No review. In fact, when Verne & Gary vigorously questioned the non call/non review, the SEC Office contacted CBS to "explain" that it was a legal hit because it wasn't delivered to a defenseless player. CBS went on to put the rule up on the screen showing that it doesn't require the player receiving the hit to be defenseless for there to be a targeting foul. The above account is 100% accurate of the events as they happened. The SEC is protecting Bama. Period.
Last year a review could overturn the ejection, but the penalty stood. Which is stupid. This year, the booth can initiate a review to actually assess a targeting foul with ejection. Didn't happen & the Bama Protection Division of the SEC Office went into DEFCON 1 status to defend, mistakenly according to the letter of the rule, the atrocious non call/non review.
Hell, one of the guy's facemask connecters broke and could be seen flying off in the slow motion replay.
Once it is called it is reviewed to see whether to eject or not. Penalties can not be overturned on review. That is my understanding.
It's crazy how bad college football video review has been. This is the eleventh season for it. It is still a mess. No real consensus on the "is it 100% conclusive video evidence?" or "do I just reverse a decision if I have the feeling it wasn't right?" And perhaps more damning, does the distinction change depending on whom is being affected by the call?
Probably were. At the very least, I have no proof other than what my eyes tell me, but there is zero doubt in my mind that officiating crews, more than likely under the direction of the SEC Office, are protecting whichever team in the SEC that has the best chance at a playoff/Nation Championship appearance. It's not always been Bama. I've noticed it for years with whichever team is the lead dog of the SEC. I'm going full conspiracy theory here, but I've seen what I've seen, and that tells me that some are receiving extra help from calls/non calls in order to not muck up the SEC darling of the moment's chances at a Natty. It's all about the $$$.
