WAC suspends replay official who failed to overturn call

DENVER -- The Western Athletic Conference has suspended a replay official for one game after he failed to overturn a call in a game last weekend between San Jose State and Boise State.

Official Michael Goshima's one-game suspension will go into effect this weekend.

The suspension -- the first of a WAC replay official since the NCAA implemented instant replay in 2006 -- was based on a play where a runner was ruled short of a first down and Goshima's review incorrectly upheld the ruling on the field.

The WAC said that upon further inspection, "the runner clearly made the first down and the call should have been reversed."

"The WAC expects the same type of performance from our instant replays officials as we do from the on field officials," Commissioner Karl Benson said in a statement. "And while errors are going to occur both on the field and in the replay booth when they do, there must be accountability.

"Instant replay is used to get it right on the field and in this case the official had a chance to reverse a call at a very critical time in the game and did not. Thus, he will be suspended for his next assignment."

In 2003, the WAC suspended an entire crew for a series of mistakes at the end of a game between San Jose State and Hawaii.