‘Just a slap on the wrist’: Husker fans react to Big Ten statement on officiating mistake
LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Big Ten Conference tried to make amends on Monday, releasing a statement on an officiating mistake in the Nebraska vs. Ohio State game:
“During Nebraska’s final drive of the first half, on second down with two yards to gain on the Ohio State 39-yard line, the ball was incorrectly spotted after a run by Cornhuskers RB Emmet Johnson. The ball carrier crossed the 37-yard line and a first down should have been awarded to Nebraska. Replay should have stopped the game to review the spot since it involved the line-to-gain.”
Video shows Johnson clearly making it past the line-to-gain:
The refs ruled this short of the first down marker and cost Nebraska 30 seconds… pic.twitter.com/tU0L52jYNF
— Grant Puskar (@grant_puskar_) October 26, 2024
The mistake came in a crucial moment as Nebraska was trying to quickly move the ball down the field to get points before the half.
Fans were baffled by the call.
“They’ve been just atrocious in general,” Josh Zarbynicky said of the referees this season. “Something has to be done.”
He was at the game in Columbus.
“When we looked at it, obviously we celebrated like we thought it was a first down,” Zarbynicky said. “And then we looked at the spot a few seconds later. The clock was rolling, and we were definitely confused and upset that that’s how it played out.”
He said this could have made a difference in the final score.
“You can’t really have something like that in a game that close,” Zarbynicky said.
He wants the Big Ten to take this more seriously and prevent it from happening again.
“It’s basically just a slap on the wrist,” Zarbynicky said. “I feel like they should be fined, suspended, something like that. Just holding officials accountable in the same way as players are.”
But another student, Peyton Wilson, said he’s glad there’s at least some sort of recognition of the mistake.
“It’s kind of just relieving that we’re getting some acknowledgment that these calls haven’t been the right calls,” he said.
Wilson hopes refs will start taking a closer look at calls before “jumping straight to conclusions.”
