Oregon Accused Of Cheating In Win Over Ohio State (Video)
Oregon Accused Of Cheating In Win Over Ohio State (Video)
Oregon made history on Saturday afternoon with an impressive 35-28 victory over Ohio State.
With this win, the Buckeyes became the first Pac-12 squad to nab a non-conference road victory over a top-5 team since 1990. Pac-12 teams came into Saturday with an incredible 25-game losing streak in that regard.
Unfortunately, this particular achievement didn’t come without controversy.
After the fact, Oregon was accused of benefiting from something they shouldn’t have benefited from.
With six minutes remaining in the game and Oregon up by seven, the Buckeyes had possession and faced a daunting 3rd and 20. Ultimately, wide receiver Chris Olave secured the reception just past the line of scrimmage, but was immediately taken down by Oregon linebacker Noah Sewell.
Targeting or no? pic.twitter.com/9nLKOMp90f
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 11, 2021
Should Noah Sewell’s hit on Chris Olave been called for targeting?
pic.twitter.com/87rOZl1kju— PFF College (@PFF_College) September 11, 2021
Many felt like the hit deserved a “targeting” call, given that Sewell led with the crown of his helmet, despite the fact that Olave was already falling down and there was no helmet-to-helmet contact.
Ultimately no call was made and Ohio State went on to lose the game.
Some folks, as one might expect, were miffed.
YES BUT ITS A PAC 12 OFFICIATING CREW.
— osu_buckeyes on IG (@BuckeyePosts) September 11, 2021
Crown. It’s the definition of targeting
— Ethan (@BucknutO) September 11, 2021
By rule yes clear as day targeting he led with the crown of his helmet. It doesn’t have to be head or neck area.
— Jon Kobes (@jonkobes3) September 11, 2021
Obviously this isn’t the first example of shifty officiating in the world of football. Heck, just this week a particularly egregious instance where a referee seemingly made up a call without realizing he was mic’d up stunned fans everywhere. But given how crucial every single outing is in college football, you can’t blame Ohio State fans for being salty over what transpired.
Dak Prescott stays winning. https://t.co/WN2voiN8k7
— Game 7 (@game7__) September 11, 2021
Big picture, this is one of the less dramatic scandals to rock college football in the last two weeks. Then again, unlike last Saturday’s big hoopla about how a female SEC reporter was dressed, at this one actually has to do with the on-field product.
One way or another, the Buckeyes will bounce back from this. They always do. Will this loss ultimately keep them out of the College Football Playoff, though? That remains to be seen.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
