Josh Pate: Officials told me the Big Ten's clock explanation is 'garbage'
After calling officials from multiple conferences, Josh Pate says not one could defend putting a second back on the clock in Ann Arbor - which eventually led to Michigan's Hail Mary win - and asks whether the same call would have gone Western Michigan's way.
Video Transcript
I have been on the phone with several officials and several referees this morning who wanted to make sure that they articulated how much of a CYA move this is, how big of a pile of garbage that is from the Big Ten league office, and how egregious, like beyond the pale, horrifically bad the machinations of the way that was handled last night were.
Every single one of them.
I couldn't find a single official, multiple conferences, couldn't find a single official that could even get close to skirting defending this.
And they walked me through the scenarios that could potentially put some time back on the clock.
For example, if that ball hits the upright, if that ball hits an official, those are some situations and circumstances where you could justify putting time back on the clock.
None of those things happened.
And I can also tell you this, like the Big Ten league office probably isn't gonna give you a login to DV Sport, but some of them have it, so they can log in and they can look at the exact same thing that the league office is looking at.
I'm telling you, there was no time left on that clock, and it took, it took a coal miner's worth of effort for the league office, and you can tell 'cause it took two hours, for them to dig and dig and dig and somehow focus group that pile of crap that was an explanation as to how we can somehow justify this.
And here's the thing.
I would love for someone in the league office to look me in the eye and tell me if Western Michigan was at midfield heaving a prayer up and that exact same set of circumstances were to have played out, that this is the way it would've gone down.
There's no way you could look me in the eye and tell me that.
No way
