Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson acknowledged sending plays from the team’s 31-25 loss to Duke for review by ACC football officiating coordinator Doug Rhoads, a routine procedure. Asked if the targeting penalty on safety Corey Griffin and the incomplete pass in the third quarter from quarterback Justin Thomas to wide receiver DeAndre Smelter were among them, Johnson replied, “It’s water under the bridge. We could have done enough to win the game, regardless.”
Rhoads reviewed the plays and stood by them as called, according to the league office. Through a Fox spokesman, former NFL vice president of officiating Mike Pereira, now a rules analyst at Fox Sports, said he would approve both calls as made. Of the targeting penalty, Pereira said, “There is helmet contact without the arm extended, so by rule it does fall under the appropriate description for that foul.”
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