Fumble? Replay not enough to reverse call

PROVO — In the end, the outcome of Saturday's BYU-TCU football game ended up in the hands of a three-man crew stationed nine stories above the Edwards Stadium playing field and equipped with two TiVo units, a 23-inch flat screen monitor, a 17-inch basic monitor and a pair of VHS/DVD recorders.

Not to mention a final decision on TCU's game-tying touchdown, which led to a game-winning PAT kick and the Horned Frogs' 51-50 overtime victory over the Cougars.

On the controversial scoring play, TCU's Cory Rodgers was carrying the ball toward the goal line and was hit by defenders as he neared the right end-zone marker. Before it was all over, the ball was fumbled out of bounds in the end zone, with the Cougars calling for a game-ending touchback on the fumble while the Frogs joined the officials signaling a touchdown — that the ball had crossed the plane of the goal line.

Then came the instant replay, as the on-field officials gave way to the eye-in-the-sky threesome of the replay official, the assistant replay official and the video technician.

And the call, with both teams and a crowd of 58,000-plus hushed in anticipation: no irrefutable evidence to overturn the ruling on the field.

Touchdown TCU, with the ensuing PAT giving the Frogs the 51-50 victory.

"The ruling on the play was that the player crossed the goal line before he fumbled the ball, resulting in a touchdown," said game referee Gerald Wright. "We advised replay and they could not irrefutably say that it was any different than the way it was called on the field. So, the play stood."

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said he was satisfied with the outcome. "What I heard on the headset was that our coaches thought it was a fumble and that we recovered it," he said. "That's what they passed on to me. I didn't see it. I trust the replay system, and it worked effectively. They reviewed it, and the review stood."

Actually, the replay system — in its inaugural season in the NCAA after last year's Big Ten Conference experiment — benefited BYU twice in the second quarter.

TCU quarterback Tye Gunn appeared to complete a 32-yard pass to Quentily Harmon, only be ruled as an incompletion when the replay booth said Harmon was out of bounds. Instead of first-and-goal at the BYU 2, the Frogs were sent back to the original line of scrimmage and settled later for a field goal.