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Lane Kiffin’s LSU was shocked by Kentucky on Saturday, and the referees admitted to calling a key play differently than all the rest.
Just before halftime of the Wildcats’ 35-34 victory over the Tigers, Kenny Minchey ran perhaps the longest quarterback sneak in football history for a touchdown as time expired, though the length of the play came with plenty of controversy.
“(Line judge Jake Osgood) said he’d be killed if he would have blown the whistle for the play being stopped,” Kiffin told reporters after the game. “Even though it appeared to be stopped.”
The play started with three seconds left on the clock and appeared to last at least six seconds as it appeared progress was halted before time ran out.
As the right line judge sprinted into the scrum, the left line judge did not blow the whistle and let the play go as the six game officials gathered around the play to figure out what the call would be.
The play resulted in a 21-17 lead for Kentucky going into the break, rather than a 17-14 deficit.
“There was just too much at stake,” Kiffin says Osgood told him.
Though Kiffin has a different argument for how the play should be officiated.
“Don’t not blow it [the play dead] because it was such a big play,” Kiffin said.
Officials had a tough time throughout the game, as the eventual game-deciding two-point conversion was shrouded in controversy as well.
Referee Ted Pitts decided that Kentucky coach Will Stein had called timeout before one of his players, wide receiver Cash Harney, flinched at the line of scrimmage for what would have been a false start.
Minchey would scramble up the middle for a two point conversion to win the game and ignite a wild celebration.
Had Harney been called for a false start, the Wildcats likely would not go for a the two-point conversion.
Kiffin added that the decision was “really upsetting to me” and added that he “struggled” to communicate with game officials all game.
“The rules are the rules,” Kiffin added. “So if you see it that way, then see it that way. That’s my complaint with it. It all comes down to just blowing the whistle, so it is what it is.”
The Tigers lost their second game of the year in Kiffin’s debut season and have a tough matchup coming up against Mississippi State next week.