ACC confirms missed offside call
It will come as little consolation to Wake Forest but the ACC has admitted fault with a controversial non-call in Saturday’s game.
The Deacons lost 30-29 in overtime to Georgia Tech on Saturday.
In the last couple of minutes of regulation, a GT defensive player appeared to be across the line of scrimmage at the time of a snap. Quarterback Robby Ashford threw a deep pass that was incomplete. Upon seeing no flag for the offside player, Ashford — along with coaches on Wake’s sideline — was incensed that a penalty wasn’t called.
An ACC spokesperson confirmed to Deacons Illustrated that a Georgia Tech defender should have been penalized for being offside at the snap.
“I’m not putting that on Robby,” coach Jake Dickert said of the play. “There’s no way he can see the flag. We wanted to see the defensive look, we clapped, we’ll see what it ends up. And then Robby does what he’s trained to do, and that’s take a shot because he doesn’t know if that’s offsides or not.”
That occurred on a third-and-5 barely inside the 2-minute timeout. Georgia Tech used its final timeout after the previous play.
A 5-yard penalty in that spot would’ve given Wake Forest the chance to kneel three times and win, 23-20.
Instead, Wake Forest punted back to GT. The Yellow Jackets drove 54 yards and Aidan Birr’s 33-yard field goal tied the game with two seconds left.
Offside penalties are judgement calls. They are not reviewable penalties.
In pointing out the obvious: Wake Forest still could have won the game with a defensive stop on GT’s last drive of regulation. The Deacons could have gotten a defensive stop in overtime. And they could have converted the 2-point attempt to end the game.
Any of those scenarios make the non-call a footnote.
*** SUBSCRIBE TO DEACONS ILLUSTRATED TO STAY UP TO SPEED ON WAKE FOREST ***
