Last week, it was Pac-10 officials in taketh away mode when it came to Washington.
This weekend, they were in full-blown giveth mode -- allegedly -- as far as the Huskies are concerned. And at the expense of the Arizona Wildcats.
Real quickly to recap what happened, Washington scored 15 points in 18 seconds late in the fourth quarter to pull out a 36-33 win over Arizona. The second of those points came off an interception return for a touchdown. And it’s the reason for the brewing mini-controversy.
A screen pass intended for UA’s Delashaun Davis instead bounced off the shoe of the receiver -- according to referees -- and was plucked out of the air by UW linebacker Mason Foster, who returned it 37 yards with 2:37 left for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.
While the referees working the game ruled that the ball did not make contact with the ground before or after hitting Davis’ heel, plenty of UA fans are from certain.
Here’s a YouTube clip of the play. Pay particular attention to the :53 and 1:07 marks of the clip:
And here’s a picture taken from the cell phone of a Huskies fan who claims there’s no doubt that it hit the ground:
So, what say ye? Did it hit the ground, or did the officials get it right?
Personally, you can’t tell squat from the picture, and the clip linked above seems to indicate the right call was made. At the very least, there was clearly not enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.