Officials Spotting of the Ball

you really couldn't believe it? it was obviously always going to be the case

Yes, it's shocking that ESPN employees would not say anything about officiating errors at the margin that favored an ESPN business partner.

Obvious bias here, but it felt like Herbie was seething the whole game, waiting for Alabama to break out and run up the score.

The one I can think of is a play where Bama made a catch on the sideline at the 42, and got spotted at the 45.

The one defense for that call I've seen is someone saying the receiver stretched the ball forward. Not 3 yards he didn't. 

The only one I noticed live was after Milroe's long throw in the second quarter. Start at 4:07 of this video. He goes out at probably the 41. 42 if you're generous and the ref gives him the 45. Hard to explain what the ref was seeing other than he just totally messed it up.

I recall seeing 3-4 spots that I raised an eyebrow over.  One was posted here when they spotted it at the 45 instead of 42.  The 4th down Milroe run also looked possibly short but I didn't see them overturning it on review (which they never did).  Bama also had a catch in the first half where the receiver went out of bounds and i thought they spotted it 2 yards favorably.

I noticed 4 or 5 spots that were pro bama.  Went back,  froze it and yeah.   Could be a knee or elbow was down early that I didn't see.  But seemed consistent that 2nd and 2 wound up being a long 3 or a short 1

I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary and even remember the crew correcting a 1st down call back to a 3rd and 1 on a Milroe sideline run.

I will say besides the missed late hit on JJ, I thought the refs had little effect on the game. Let’s hope the CFP title game follows a similar script.

I haven't rewatched yet, but I really wasn't too worried about the JJ oob tackle. If he'd thrown him down at all, throw the flag, but him not finishing the tackle was enough for me to be fine with a no call. 

Also, the Alabama DB gave Darrius Clemons a DDT after the play was over.  Might not have been on TV since it was far downfield and the ball was not.

You have to hold the coaches feet to the fire on that stuff, IMO.  First, Semaj is going to be awesome but he wasn't ready for that spot and never should have been put back there.  He was visibly terrified when they were about to punt the ball and if there was ever a muff that you could see coming it was that.  Second, after putting Morgan out there all game, ever after the muff, you bring Thaw in cold (who had not been exactly a bastion of greatness back there all year anyway) for the last punt of the game?  Really weird.

Frankly I don't think they should have put anybody deep for the last punt.  Touchback or bust.

Even when I know what happens, I still have trouble watching replays of that punt.  I was shocked he was put out there with the season on the line.

Playoff games and Super Bowls are typically laxly reffed. Players and teams can get away with obvious calls because the officials are trying to limit their role in the outcome of any game. 

Curiously, the back judge flagged Michigan for a first half Max Bredeson pancake block with the play still in progress for unnecessary roughness when the umpire had a clearer look at the play and let it go. There were other instances of unnecessary roughness in the game after that which were never called. 

The only fouls that Alabama was penalized for were illegal procedure or false starts. 

The roughing call was valid. You can't drive on a player who's already down and not a part of the play at that point.

"Hands to the face" is a staple of Saban & Belichik coached teams. The fact it never gets called is why it's a staple. I was seeing it on almost every down from at least one of their DL. Never got called.

There is no "let 'em play".  That's just code for "let 'em cheat".

Discussion of fixes and corruption aside, that does two things:

1. Rewards the dirtiest programs at the expense of well-coached ones, and
2. Makes the sport atrocious to watch because why play with technique when you can cheat?

You guys do realize why, say, holding is illegal, right?  There's nothing inherently dangerous about bear-hugging someone.  In fact it's miles safer than hitting them at full force.  It's illegal because bear-hugging requires no technique.  You just open your arms, close, and squeeze.  Hit the gym enough and anyone can do it.  Blocking someone legally requires thousands of hours of footwork and hand placement to master.

Not calling penalties -- a.k.a. "swallowing the whistle", a.k.a. "let them play" -- turns the game into dogshit.