Okahoma State beat Iowa State thanks to this controversial interception. Here’s why it was the right call

With Iowa State driving for a potential game-tying score against Oklahoma State, we had us a near-simultaneous catch. The Cowboys won, 49-42, after getting possession back and icing the game.

The play was ruled as an interception and after review was upheld. It was an interception by A.J. Green, and both players hit the ground before ISU wrestled the ball back.

Had it have been overturned, it would have been via rule seven, article six of the NCAA’s rulebook rules as such:

Any forward pass is complete when caught by a player of the passing team who is inbounds, and the ball continues in play unless completed in the opponent’s end zone or the pass has been caught simultaneously by opposing players. If a forward pass is caught simultaneously by opposing players inbounds, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the passing team.

But the refs here made the right call in the end. When returning from watching it on replay, the officials said the play was upheld and not just that there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn. People will certainly make the argument with stills, but it’s hard to say that this is demonstrably an Iowa State catch.

Iowa State’s Marchie Murdock (the receiver in question here) understandably isn’t pleased.

I get it, but I’m not sure this is a clear tie. Also, consider what the definition of the catch is, part of which is if the receiver “Secures control of a live ball in flight before the ball touches the ground.”

Here, Iowa State might appear to have more control, but nobody’s hit the ground yet:

By the time both players hit the ground, OSU appears to have more possession. Green has the ball pinned against his chest, while Murdock only has a hand on it.

This wasn’t the Touchdown Seahawks college equivalent, but it was close. .

As far as Big 12 stakes go, the goose is cooked for the Cyclones.

The Cyclones are pretty much out of the race for the conference championship game, even though they have tiebreakers on both TCU and Oklahoma. They now have three conference losses, so they’ll be behind even whichever team loses the Frogs-Sooners game Saturday night. They also lost tiebreakers to West Virginia and now OSU.

Oklahoma State’s in the hunt, but they’re gonna need some help moving forward to break into the top-two.