Boise State defeated No. 23 Fresno State 24-17 on Friday Night in Boise on a bit of a controversial first down call that ended the game. With less than a minute left, Boise State had the ball leading by a touchdown. Needing to drain as much time as possible, Broncos running back Alexander Mattison rushed the ball on 3rd and 1.
Fresno State-Boise State ended on a Broncos 1st down, but it looked like the ball might’ve been short
Definitely could have been looked at a bit closer.
With just 18 seconds on the clock, the refs came out to measure the spot with the chains. Weirdly, it looked like it was at least a half an inch short — but the refs rules it a first down anyway.
Here’s another look:
Clearly, this looks like it could have used a closer look than what the refs gave it, or at at least could have been given the ole index card check.
“I see air in between that football, ESPN announcer Kirk Morrison said on the broadcast at the end of the game. “To me, that looked like it looked short, wow. From my eyes up here it looked to be just a link of the chain short.”
For Fresno State, this was just second its loss of the season, so you can beat head coach Jeff Tedford might not be too happy about this call. Especially when Fresno State was looking like a prime candidate for a New Year’s Six Bowl representing the Mountain West come December. But to be fair, there were only 18 seconds left on the clock, and there’s no telling Boise wouldn’t have just gotten a first down on the fourth-down try anyway.
We’ll see if we hear anything further from either the referees or the Mountain West Conference from this first down ruling.
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