MAC ref confirms Hail Mary last play in CMU-OSU game should never have happened

Not surprisingly, one member of the officiating crew in the Central Michigan-Oklahoma State is acknowledging a huge error that proved costly to the home team.

CMU stunned OSU with a Hail Mary lateral with no time left that gave the MAC school a controversial upset win. The controversy came via the officials, who erroneously gave the Chips an untimed down following a fourth-down intentional grounding call on the Cowboys on the previous play.

From Rule 10-2-5-a of the NCAA rulebook:

“The period is not extended if the foul is by the team in possession and the statement of the penalty includes loss of down.”

The Cowboys were the team in possession and the intentional grounding penalty includes loss of down, meaning the Chips shouldn’t have gotten the ball back as the game should’ve instead been over. While it will come as little consolation to the losers, the head of the officiating crew, which came from the Chips’ conference the MAC, confirmed their collective blunder.

From

The Oklahoman‘s Berry Tramel:

Mid-American Conference referee Tim O’Dey said Saturday that the Oklahoma State-Central Michigan game should not have been extended and that his officiating crew erred in giving Central Michigan an untimed down.

...

O’Dey said he checked with Rogers Reddings and the game should end on an accepted live ball loss-of-down penalty with no time left.

It’s likely O’Dey and his entire crew will be facing sanctions from his conference, up to and including suspensions.