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The officiating crew at the Michigan State-Wisconsin football game Saturday night was in a no-win situation.
Knowing that, the officials put it all aside and did the right thing. I’ll explain.
By now, you’ve probably seen the replay of the game’s last play a few hundred times. But let me set the scene for those who haven’t: With the score tied, Michigan State had the ball at the Wisconsin 44-yard line with only four seconds to play. Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins rolled out to his right and heaved a pass toward the end zone.
The ball bounced off Michigan State receiver B.J. Cunningham’s facemask right into the hands of teammate Keith Nichol to give the Spartans an improbable, 37-31 victory over the previously unbeaten Badgers.
Here’s where it gets interesting. The officials on the field ruled that Nichol, who was battling two Wisconsin defenders to get into the end zone, was short of the goal line.
It went up to the booth and replay official Tom Herbert, who, I’m sure, looked at it many times. He made the decision to reverse the call. With that, Michigan State was awarded a touchdown — and the win.
Judgment calls are made on the field and in the replay booth. Herbert made the right judgment call when he concluded that on the second surge toward the end zone, Nichol broke the plane for a touchdown.
One of the keys is this: Nichol is a runner, and all it takes to be a touchdown is for the tip of the football to break the plane. On the second surge, you can see that the ball has clearly broken to plane.
Tom Herbert knew what the magnitude of his decision would be, and he put it all aside to make the right call.
Michigan State happy. Wisconsin not.
Like I said, a no-win for the officials. But they did their job, and they did it right.
