Three days and one call to the Big Ten later and Lincoln Riley still doesn’t understand how the officials overturned USC’s game-tying stop on the goal line and instead gave Minnesota the go-ahead touchdown that changed the face of the title race. the conference changed .
The USC coach said Tuesday that there were “a number of lapses at the end” by officials during the Trojans’ 24-17 loss that he sought clarification from the Big Ten, including two pass interference calls and the intentional grounding that caused a dead cost. critical drive in the fourth quarter for USC. But none had more consequences than Minnesota’s last goalie, Max Brosmer, who was initially deemed too short of the goal line on the field.
The call was quashed by officials upon further investigation. Under NCAA rules, the referees had to establish “indisputable video evidence” to overturn the on-field call.
But when Riley inquired further about that assessment this week, he said the Big Ten only told him that they “believed” Minnesota had scored — but not that the evidence of that score was indisputable.
“They agree it’s not moot,” Riley said. “I mean, they agree, which is a shame because that’s part of the rules. But listen, I understand it’s close. I get it. Did he score? Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t. Don’t know. But that’s the problem, no one knows, and you’ll have to come back to what the referees call on the field.”
Only in this case, after a lengthy video review, officials gave the Gophers the benefit of the doubt.
Read more: Lincoln Riley still thinks USC can be “a really good team” despite the loss to Minnesota
“They thought the runner had scored,” Riley said. “And they felt like that was enough to undo it. I have not been given any explanation as to why we ignored the part of the rule that clearly states that in order to undo something, it must be absolutely and completely clear. There can be no doubt about what is happening. That part was ignored, which is a shame for us.”
Riley said he wouldn’t have even asked the conference about it if the officials had called a touchdown on the field. The confusion arose after the evaluation itself, and none of it was cleared up during Riley’s conversation with the conference.
The Big Ten did not immediately respond to questions from The Times about why the decision was made to overturn the call — or why, according to Riley, the conference was satisfied with that decision, despite agreeing that there was no indisputable evidence was.
But after expressing his frustration with the Big Ten on Tuesday, Riley said he hoped to move past the consequence, despite how much USC lost as a result.
“It’s not the reason we lost the game,” Riley said. “We had plenty of other chances and I’m not going to blame the referees here and say they did a bad job and that’s why we didn’t win the game. That had nothing to do with it.”
Another redshirt?
Finally, in a defense that matched his unusual skill set, Eric Gentry appeared to be on his way to a breakout senior season until an undisclosed injury forced him to leave USC’s win over Wisconsin early.
Now it’s no longer clear whether USC’s leader in tackles, tackles for loss and sacks will perform well again this season.
Gentry sat out the entire week and did not travel to Minneapolis with the team. He was present at training on Tuesday, but again in street clothes. As for when he could be back, Riley agreed that the linebacker will be out “indefinitely.”
With that in mind, Riley was asked if Gentry, who has played in just four games, could be a candidate to redshirt the rest of this season in order to preserve a year of college eligibility.
Given how the past month has gone, he doesn’t rule out the possibility.
“If you look around the country now, you never know,” Riley said. “No final decision has been made yet. We continue to evaluate how he feels and how he is developing. He is back with us and is now doing everything except full training. But he is already able to increase some physical activities. Ongoing. But in this day and age, I don’t know if you can say it one way or another [about a redshirt] now. It’s just the way the rules are now.”
Just last week, another USC linebacker, Raesjon Davis, opted to sit out the rest of this season to preserve his redshirt despite being healthy and able to play. The week before, defensive tackle Bear Alexander brought the same decision to USC’s staff. But while Davis continued to practice with the scout team, Alexander left the team entirely.
It is not yet clear whether Gentry will join them. But for now, Riley said, “he’s making rapid progress.”
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
