Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson won a rather hollow consolation prize this week – an admission from the ACC that officials missed a penalty call against Virginia in the Yellow Jackets’ 27-21 loss Saturday.
The play in question was an incomplete pass from quarterback Justin Thomas to A-back Clinton Lynch in the back of the end zone with about 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter with Virginia leading 27-14. Linebacker Micah Kizer broke up the pass, leaving Tech to attempt a fourth-and-8 play from the Virginia 22-yard line. The play failed, returning the ball to Virginia with 9:43 remaining. Johnson said following the game that “I don’t know how that’s not pass interference.” The play helped drop Tech to 3-6.
A pass-interference penalty would have given Tech a first down at the 7-yard line. Johnson said Wednesday, following the team’s first practice in preparation for its Nov. 12 game against Virginia Tech, that the league “said they messed it up.” The admission did little to placate Johnson, who has found the process of asking the league to review calls something of a useless exercise.
“My response is, Do we get to start over from there?” Johnson asked. “It doesn’t do any good when you just say, ‘We missed it.’”
Johnson noted that the crew in the Duke-Miami game had been suspended for two games after making four errors on the final play of the game, an eight-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown that won the game for the Hurricanes.
“Maybe if that (suspension) happens, maybe you don’t miss as many,” Johnson said. “I don’t know. But three weeks from now, nobody will remember that we didn’t get a pass-interference call. They just remember you lost. That’s what makes it tough.”
Johnson said he has tried to have a positive view of officiating, recognizing that officials are human and will make mistakes and that missed calls will ultimately even out.
“But when there is a slim margin of error and there are some that are just blatant that really change the outcome of the game, it’s just hard,” he said.
