BCS National Championship: Zebra Report

The BCS National Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon was a well-officiated game -- as well it should have been. Sure, a game between two teams with the warp-speed styles is going to be tough, but college football has its biggest game of the season and you expect the powers-that-be to find the best officials they have to offer. We can't be sure if those were definitely the best officials in the nation, but they certainly looked the part for most of the game Monday night.

Of course, I fully expect a decent amount of people to disagree because bashing the officiating has become the cool thing to do nowadays.

We'll go through with a few quick-hitters and give explanations, but there really wasn't anything legitimately big -- exactly what you'd expect from a good, professional crew.

Oh, and in case you're here looking for the score, it was 22-19 Auburn. The game story can be read by clicking here.

• There were several occasions where the defense was close to committing a foul for an illegal horse-collar on the ballcarrier, but it wasn't called (LaMichael James in the first quarter, Onterio McCalebb in the second, and James again in the fourth). As we've covered before in the Zebra Report, remember all the criteria for horse-collar. The defender has to have a hold of the inside of the collar on the side or back of the ballcarrier's jersey or shoulder pads and bring him backward all the way to the ground. If the ballcarrier falls forward while the defender lets go, it's not a penalty. If a runner is taken down by the collar in the backfield between the tackles, it's not. If a quarterback is taken down by the collar in the pocket, it's also not a foul (though we didn't see this variety). All the no-calls were correct.

• Just as the ESPN announcing crew told the viewing audience, in order for a play to not be a safety, the entire ball has to be spotted outside the end zone. Correct -- and really easy -- call when Auburn got James for a safety.

• Again, as the announcing crew pointed out, Eric Smith of Auburn is lucky he wasn't ejected from the game late in the first half for kneeing an Oregon player who was down on the ground. I can certainly understand why he wasn't ejected, though. It wasn't a blatant kick or punch, so the crew had discretion. In a game of this magnitude, I can see giving the kid the benefit of the doubt. Still, it was quite cowardly and I wouldn't have blamed any official for tossing him, either.

• Most of the other calls were pretty obvious (Cliff Harris non-INT, Auburn's incomplete pass in the end zone, a few holding calls, etc.).

• If what we saw on camera from Casey Matthews on his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was all he did, I'm not sure I see the need for a call there. Of course, there wasn't a great shot of his full actions after he knocked the ball away from Cam Newton.

• Both replay reviews on the final drive were extremely difficult and I'm personally content with the way the referee ruled. Both could have gone either way, really.

• And of course, the play everyone is bound to be talking about, though it would have been much, much worse had Oregon won. On fourth down late in the game, Oregon converts with an assist by the umpire. Here's the deal, though. He's part of the field. He was clearly looking straight forward and the umpire needs to work his way toward the line of scrimmage during the play (in order to watch for illegal men downfield and/or illegal forward pass). He was merely doing his job and accidentally got caught in the way. It was actually a great route by Oregon and you know the reason for the drag route was to have this happen. The only people who could complain about this don't know what officiating is all about. And that's OK. Just don't kill the guy over it. He was doing his job. Any specific shots at the individual would be completely unfounded and unfair (but I'm sure they're coming anyway ... see the comments section below).

Grade for the Officials: A-

The best thing the crew did was that they let the players decide the game. We weren't treated to an excessive amount of laundry on the field nor was the pace ever disrupted. The only time you noticed an official for the wrong reason was on the so-called "pick" play, but he had no way of seeing that defender coming -- unless he wasn't watching the interior line, which is his job. I might question the Matthews penalty but, again, we didn't see the whole play on the broadcast. He could have done or said much more.

The final tally was six penalties for 37 yards on Oregon and five for 47 on Auburn. Not sure there's a whole lot to complain about there.

That's it for this season. I'll be back next season and maybe a few times in the spring and/or summer. Thanks for following the Zebra Report for a great 2010-11 season.

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Have a question or comment involving officiating? E-mail me at Matt.Snyder@FanHouse.com.