Officials reviewed Florida State play that never actually happened

Published Sep. 27, 2014 6:30 p.m. ET

foxsports

You had to see it to believe it, and even then, you may not have believed if you had seen it.

It was strange.

It was weird.

It was bizarre.

And if you add those up, you get one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in a football game and I’ve been watching football for, uh, longer than I care to mention. Let’s just say a long time.

During a sequence of plays in the Florida State-North Carolina State game, many folks on social media thought the No. 1 Seminoles got an extra play. What we got was a lot of confusion.

Here was the situation: Florida State had the ball, first-and-10 at the North Carolina State 22 yard line with 13:13 left in the first quarter.

First and second downs were normal, by most standards -- a Jameis Winston five-yard pass completion and a chop block penalty called against Florida State, setting up second-and-20 from the NC State 32-yard line. Winston then threw an incomplete pass, leaving the Seminoles with third-and-20.

Now it gets interesting, because here is where strange and weird enter the picture. Don’t worry, bizarre’s not far behind.

A play got reviewed that never happened. Follow along …

Winston attempted a pass to Kermit Whitfield, who caught it as he was going out of bounds near the 4-yard line. One official called it a catch, another one ruled it incomplete. But it didn’t matter because North Carolina State called a timeout prior to the play. You could hear the referee say it during the broadcast.

Enter bizarre.

When the timeout was over, the replay official buzzed down and wanted to review the Winston-to-Whitfield sideline catch that took place after the timeout had been called.

Excuse me? A review of a play that never happened?

Somebody should have called CSI because the referee came out after the timeout and announced the ruling of the previous play -- the play that never happened -- stood, that the pass was incomplete and it was third-and-20.

Hell, not even CSI could have solved this one. What a mess.

In the end, however, North Carolina State had called a time out and Florida State did not get an extra play. But the whole sequence of events will be one they’ll be talking about in the ACC offices next week.

Strange, weird and bizarre don’t begin to sum it up. A play that never happened got reviewed.

I still don’t believe it -- and I saw it.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

Two amazing plays took place during the Baylor-Iowa State game on FOX Sports 1 Saturday night in Ames, Iowa.

They both came on incredibly tight sideline plays, both made by Iowa State quarterback Sam B. Richardson throwing the ball to wide receiver, Dondre Daley. And while the athleticism of these two young men was really beautiful to watch, I’m not talking about them.

I want to talk about Ed Vinzant and Al Green.

You probably don’t read much about Vinzant and Green, but I’m going to tell you about those two amazing plays they were also a part of Saturday.

I’ll get to Vinzant and Green in a minute, but here were the situations on the two plays:

-- Play 1: Iowa State had the ball, second-and-3 at the Baylor 11-yard line with 2:30 left in the first quarter. Baylor led 14-0. Richardson threw the ball to the back corner of the end zone and Daley made a terrific catch, barely getting his left foot down before his right foot hit out of bounds. Touchdown.

-- Play 2: Iowa State had the ball, second-and-11 at the Iowa State 48-yard line with 10:55 left in the second quarter. Baylor led 21-7. Richardson found Daley again, this time for a 13-yard completion at the Baylor 39-yard line for a first down. For the second time, it was another great catch by Daley, who again barely got his left foot down before his right foot hit out of bounds.

So where do Vinzant and Green come in?

They were the field judge and head linesman in the game and made the calls on the plays.

Twice I went on the air to comment on these incredibly tight plays. Two of the closest plays I’ve see so far this season. You are talking about split-second decisions being made based on a matter of inches, difference between a foot being in or out of bounds.

And twice I failed to mention what marvelous calls these gentlemen made.

Replay confirmed that both calls on the field were right. And both correct calls were made in “real time.’'

We, including me, get to sit in front of our TV sets and watch replay after replay. I get to go frame-by-frame and dissect every move, examine these plays with the use of all of my gadgets at the FOX Network Center, and I can tell you, those were two spectacular calls. The athletes weren’t half bad on those two plays, either.

We’re all quick to criticize officials’ mistakes, but we seem to be very hesitant about complimenting them when they deserve it.

Most people don’t give officials an inch when it comes to complimenting them. Saturday night, I saw inch by inch how good of a job Vinzant and Green really did.