ESPN points out controversial ruling cost Ole Miss fresh set of downs in red zone vs. Florida

Florida might have been given a serious gift in its game against Ole Miss on Saturday night, courtesy of the officiating a crew. A potential missed call immediately drew scrutiny from the ESPN broadcast booth.

Ole Miss settled for a field goal attempt in the low red zone. On the kick, Florida was penalized for illegal hands to the face.

On the surface, that should have granted Ole Miss an automatic first down and a fresh go at the end zone. However, officials ruled that the foul on No. 24 (sic) came after the play had ended and thus would be enforced on the ensuing kickoff.

It did not give Ole Miss a fresh set of downs. The ESPN broadcast crew jumped in to explain.

“It isn’t 24, it’s 34. It’s George Gumbs,” Bob Wischusen said. “You’re going to see it right here in your screen. You’re going to see him take a shot at No. 61, Diego Pounds. See, they’re engaged and then you see right there the hand go up to the facemask and the helmet come off. And that’s when the flag comes out. But that’s on 34, George Gumbs.”

ESPN brought in its rules expert, Jerry McGinn, to analyze the play. He agreed that Ole Miss was hosed.

“So the play does not stop until the ball hits the net,” McGinn said. “And the ball has not hit the net yet when the foul occurred. So this should have been a live-ball foul, which would have given Ole Miss a first down.”

As a result of the sequence, Ole Miss made a short field goal to cut the Florida lead to 21-20 with about two minutes remaining in the first half. Still, the crew couldn’t believe the officiating miss.

Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was heated, too, remonstrating with officials as he tried to get the call corrected. To no avail.

“Lane Kiffin is right in this case, Louis, to make this argument,” Wischusen said.

Without missing a beat, fellow analyst Louis Riddick agreed. It was a definite miss.

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Riddick said. “That’s a big-time, big-time miss for a clear infraction, personal foul infraction.”

Florida would add a field goal just before the half to take a 24-20 lead in the contest. Kiffin, though, remained heated in an Ole Miss halftime interview with sideline reporter Kris Budden.

“Just really disappointing to have communication with the refs,” Kiffin said. “They come over, try to get it right. The hands to the face is during the play, let’s just get it right. It’s not that hard. So that’s really just discouraging, to have that much time to talk about it. And they admit they’re wrong now, so what good does that do?”