re: 10 Worst Calls in College Football

quote:

---

You talking about the leverage call?

---

It wasn't a leverage call, which as I understand it, means that the player uses another player to gain more height on a jump or more penetration on a rush to block a field goal. It was landing on another player after jumping into the air. It was supposed to prevent defenders running toward the line, diving over it and landing on the opposing players, possibly hurting them. In this case, our guy jumped and landed on our own side of the line, and the only person he made contact with when he landed was our own player. Never crossing the line of scrimmage and not touching an Auburn player on landing, he was not supposed to be called for the penalty. However, the rules committee (which included Nick Saban) had refused Saban's request for a guide to interpretation that would have cleared up this very issue ahead of time on the grounds that no official could be so stupid or so crooked as to call the penalty in that situation. Well, the ref at Auburn proved them wrong and called the penalty, deciding the outcome of the game in Auburn's favor. The week following the game, the NCAA issued the very interpretation guide that Saban had requested when the rule was passed. So, that play is and will always remain the only one in NCAA history in which that penalty was called under those circumstances.

Only at Auburn.