Did Ole Miss Get Robbed?

Talk on the internets this week, at least the little corner of it inhabited by Ole Miss fans, is the game-ending call that Shay Hodge was an ineligible receiver when he touched the football. During the game, most people thought it was a close call, maybe too close to call at the end of a game. After the game, Rebel fans were livid, showering the field in trash (including f-me pumps) and accosting Alabama coaches. But now that the dust has settled, what's the verdict?

Ole Miss fans, pretty much universally from what I've seen, have become more fervent in their belief that they got hosed. Alabama fans the opposite. So who's right? Photos and video after the jump.

It's really, really easy to make this play look "inconclusive". Have a look at this YouTube video from Ole Miss fan 'tygbro':



He gets the rules right, but then shows a bunch of photos taken after the relevant portion of the play. He also shows some videos, but we don't get any slow-mo or frame stoppages. Let's take a look at some of the claims being made by some of the louder Ole Miss fans.


1. The Play Wasn't Reviewable
According to the 2007 NCAA Football Rules, that's simply not the case. Rule 12 governs replays. Section 3 of that rule lists the types of reviewable plays. Article 2 of that section deals with pass plays, look at (a) and (b):

a. A pass ruled complete, incomplete or intercepted anywhere in the field
of play or an end zone.

b. A legal forward pass touched by an ineligible receiver.

2. The Refs Can't Add Penalties After The Fact
Going back to the rules, Rule 12, Section 3, Article 3 contains a few examples of this not being the case. The examples include 12 men on the field and touching a kick before it's gone 10 yards.


So those are the easy ones. The next two are a little more difficult.


3. Hodge Was Pushed Out By Mitchell (and there wasn't conclusive evidence otherwise)
Per the NCAA Rules, an eligible receiver who is pushed out of bounds may regain eligibility if he immediately returns to the field of play. This is not the case when he leaves the field of play under his own power.

First of all, Hodge did not have position on Mitchell. For most (if not all) of his route, he was behind Mitchell. Further, when he went out of bounds, both players were looking for the ball and Mitchell's back was to Hodge. To say that Mitchell "pushed" Hodge out of bounds is clearly false. All of this is readily apparent on replay.


Further, Hodge took no fewer than five steps on the white line, even if he was pushed out of bounds, he didn't return to the field of play immediately, he continued running out of bounds to try to gain position on Mitchell.


4. Mitchell Touched the Ball First (and there wasn't conclusive evidence otherwise)
This is an easy conclusion to jump to, given the fact that (as noted above) Mitchell had position on the ball in front of Hodge. Unfortunately for Rebel fans, Hodge (by running out of bounds) gained enough position to leap over Mitchell and make first contact with the ball. This is readily apparent by going frame-by-frame through the replay. Observe the two relevant frames (Images from TideFans.com):


As the frames above clearly show, one frame before the ball touches a player, Hodge has Mitchell completely covered up and his hands are in front of Mitchell's. Frame B2 shows the ball on Hodge's hand and Mitchell had not yet reached to take the ball from him.

Was it a close call? Sure, but it was the correct one, and this is precisely what instant replay is supposed to be used for. Claims that replay shouldn't be used when the game is on the line are silly, if it can't be used then, why use it at all? It's easy to disagree with the call (especially if it went against your team) but there is plenty of evidence to support the Replay Official's decision.

So, was Ole Miss robbed? Absolutely, 100% without a doubt. They were robbed at the end of the first half when Glen Coffee dropped the ball but was ruled down (rendering the play unreviewable). The call reversal at the end of the game, however, was perfectly reasonable.