College referees suspended after Miami's "miracle" win over Duke
College football fans are still buzzing about the wild final play in the game between the University of Miami and Duke. Miami won, and Duke and the credibility of the officials on the field both lost.
At the end of the game, Miami had received the last-minute kickoff trailing Duke by three points. Time expired as Hurricane players lateraled the ball eight times for the winning score, a final play for the ages.
But the referees blew it. They huddled with the replay official for nine minutes.
Miami's miracle was a mirage: Hurricane player Mark Walton lateraled the ball with his knee touching the ground, just a few feet away from an official.
"I thought the guy was down, and I think pictures will prove me right that he was down," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe.
A closer look shows his knee was down, which means the play and the game were over.
The Atlantic Coast Conference agreed, saying in a statement "the last play of the game was not handled appropriately." It also ruled the now-suspended officials had missed four calls on that play alone.
So Duke wins, right? Wrong.
"There is currently no mechanism in the NCAA rule book to overturn the result of a game in this circumstance," says USA Today sports reporter Dan Wolken. "Once everyone leaves the field and the officials declare the game over, it's over."
