Instant replay gains support

CORONADO, Calif. — The Mountain West's instant replay policy seeks to make sure efforts of hard-working players don't blow up because of a critical missed call by an official, and in theory, will lead to the best team on that day coming out with a win, according to league officials.

"I love the threshold it is based upon," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said.

"It makes the game more accurate," Air Force coach Fisher DeBerry said.

"It enables a coach who has an issue with a call, put it behind them quicker. Last year I had one week it lingered until mid-week with calls to the conference headquarters," SDSU coach Tom Craft said.

The MWC is one of nine of 11 Division I conferences which will instill an instant replay review of certain plays during football games this fall. Joining the Big Ten, which had replays last season, the MWC will be the only league that will give coaches a flag and enable them to protest "certain type" calls on the field.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is for instant replay, but was one of two coaches in the league who voted against having coaches able to protest a call. He prefers having replay officials in the press box handle the controversial or close calls that may need to be overturned.

Last season San Diego State had the ball and a lead on Colorado State with two minutes remaining in the game when Aztec running back Michael Franklin got tackled, rolled on the grass and then put the ball up in the air where a Ram defender grabbed it. Officials ruled Franklin fumbled, although nobody saw Franklin fumble. CSU gained possession, scored and won the game.

That kind of loss can lead to a job change for a coach like Craft, who is under fire at SDSU.

No more, according to the league.

Those "egregious errors" in officiating will be addressed by the new replay program, according to deputy conference commissioner Bret Gilliland. "This isn't a slight on our officials in this conference, they are all for making the right calls and welcome the replays."

The replays will be based on a common sense approach. The flow of the game will not be significantly disrupted or prolonged and the system will focus only on significant reviewable plays. The replay must have indisputable video evidence (from TV broadcasts or in-house video display and a discernible competitive effect in the game.