It is with a heavy heart that I must announce the Pac-12 refs are at it again. The Pac-12 acknowledged on Sunday that it has suspended one unnamed referee for an officiating gaffe that took place during Saturday's Washington State-Cal game.
Additionally, the rest of the crew from that game has been demoted.
The mistake took place with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter on a kickoff that followed a Cal touchdown. A return to midfield by Washington State's Travell Harris was wiped out because of an illegal hands to the face penalty, which brought the Cougars back to their own 8-yard line. The penalty was assessed on No. 15 for Washington State, (Armauni Archie) when it should have been given to No. 15 for Cal (Ben Moos, who is ironically enough the son of former Washington State athletic director Bill Moos).
That resulted in roughly a 57-yard swing in favor of Cal when the ball should have been placed inside the Golden Bears' 40-yard line. Officials caught the mistake a play later and informed Washington State's sideline, but by that point it was too late to overturn.
Cal won the game 33-20, though Washington State ended up kicking a field goal on the aforementioned drive.
