Navy’s “4th” Timeout
There was some discussion about Navy’s “4th” timeout in yesterday’s barnburner of a football game in Baltimore. What had happened was Navy called a timeout after Jonas Gray fumbled near the goal line to ensure that the play could be reviewed. It was originally called down by contact, but after review, Gray was ruled to have fumbled. The referees, however, never announced that Navy would not be charged a timeout.
Weis addressed the matter on Sunday.
Well, we went and did some due diligence on this today, and the only thing that we can figure out is there’s some ambiguity around the time out that was called around Jonas’s fumble, okay. There’s some ambiguity on that one.
So the question is, whether or not there was a charged time-out or there wasn’t a charged time out. So even though a time-out, they made an announcement that I didn’t hear, the time-out came off the board, some people think that we are watching TV, that they said, there will not be a charged time-out; and therefore, there should not have been a time-out come off the board, even though at the end of the game, there were no time-outs left on the board, technically according to the officials, there was still one left.
I had never got an explanation where the one left came from, but when we did our research today, that’s the only thing at this time that we could come up with.
So there you have it. The timeout was awarded back to Navy because the play was challenged and reversed.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Hmmmm…..must have hit a wrong combo of keys to get the “cool” face. Didn’t think so, but I was trying to type the number 8 for Raeshon. Perhaps I was subconsciously trying to type a frown face instead!
Chris:
Fortunately(?) Charlie put the starters back in after Navy recovered the onside kick. When they threw “the catch” that was Raeshon McNeil (number 8) trying to catch up.
The only way I see Charlie pulling starters against USC is if he’s afraid they’ll get too beaten up to play in the bowl game. Now I’m sure that statement may cause some discussion, but we need to remember Notre Dame sells tickets and WILL play in a bowl game now that she’s eligible
svenghali:
The announcers were horrible. I would think that a former ND player (Beuerlein) would at least get player’s names right. He said “Michael Tate has broken all of the Notre Dame freshman receiving records”…..although I think Charlie would be drooling to have a receiver with Floyd’s skills and Tate’s speed!
irisheye62:
Amen. Fortunately I was at the Purdue game and got to throw a bit back in the faces of my Purdue alumn friends this year.
I bleed blue and gold ( and green) That said, I wish this team would play a FULL sixty minutes of ball. If that were to happen, this discussion would not be taking place.
I am not–nor would I ever slight Navy -but sixty–NOT fity but SIXTY minutes of actual heart and play in a game would be welcome.
(The only game that comes close to this in this season is the Purdue Game)
Go Irish!
I liked how immediately convinced the announcers were that Jonas fumbled, although no replay showed the ball coming out along with his knees in the same frame. The conclusive angle cropped Jonas at mid-thigh. But yeah, it was a fumble.
Thanks Mike. I finally got to watch that last 5 or so minutes of “officiating”. I was joking about the officials being from the Big 10 or the PAC 10 considering they are the reason we have instant reply in college football! They were Big East, which should not suprise anyone.
The ball was batted to the side and even if it did go slightly forward he was not trying to advance the ball for better field position, therefore I think this was a no flag situation. Also, when the refs huddle to have a discussion, they should not be huddling up with ANY coach for his “input” as to what happened.
“The catch” was ruled that way(dragging his feet), but seriously look at it. He didn’t drag his toes. He landed on the line while he was gaining possesion of the ball. I think these guys were watching the Michigan INT for a TD replay and those guys were watching our replay.
As far as the kicker goes, I think I heard one of the commentators say that the ball cannot come from behind the kicker. So if that is true there should have been a flag.
I agree 100% that the receiver should not have gotten behind him which goes back to Weis pulling the starters way too early. Finish the game and who cares about disrespecting anybody!! Nobody will ever respect us and pull their starters. Watch the USC game and see when their starters leave the field.
It looked like, from TV, that the ball was batted to the side. It could have gone slightly forward, but the initial view didn’t appear that way.
On “the catch” he did get a toe in before planting his foot completely down. The heel of his foot then touched out of bounds. I’m thinking it was ruled a catch using the same logic as when receivers drag their toes in bounds before going out of bounds. He should have never gotten behind the defense to even have made this an issue.
I don’t believe a kicker can be offsides on a kickoff as the plant foot is almost always going to be in front of the ball. But I don’t know the exact rule on that.
As many times as they corrected the clock, you would have thought the officials would have corrected the timeout count too.
I believe I heard on TV that the replay officials were Big East. As far as the ones on the field, I have no idea.
Also on the batted ball. IIRC, the penalty was because he batted the ball forward. It was never replayed to look into that, but I think that is what the penalty was for.
I was at the game as well and stayed thru the rain. I didn’t have a chance to watch my recording yet either, but was Gray’s fumbled challenged or did Navy just call a timeout so the replay officials would have more time to review the play? If they challenged then they would not have been charged a TO, but if they called a TO then that is lost and they did call a 4th TO. At least that’s my understanding of the rule.
Please take a look at “the catch”. Was he in or out? The replay at the stadium stopped and clearly showed his foot out of bounds, but the clearity of these jumbotrons is not the best.
Please clarify the rule of a batted ball. Why isn’t there a penalty when players do the same out of the endzone for a safety rather than an opponent TD?
And what was up with the refs adding time every other play? And then how does 1 second only come off the clock after a run? What officials were on the field and what officials were in the replay booth? My guess would be PAC 10 and Big 10 respectively.
Last but not least, what is the rule for a kicker being offsides as the navy kicker was on all 3 onside kicks.
Hate to use the officials as an excuse for a close game, but this seems to be happening alot. How many calls are reviewed/reversed against ND? Watch any other game on a Saturday and they only use replay when neccessary.