Should Miami's crazy 8-lateral TD against Duke have actually counted?
Miami beat Duke on Saturday with one of the craziest plays of the season ... and maybe one of the best in college football history. But should the Canes' game-winning touchdown have counted?
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Miami had 23 penalties for 194 yards against Duke on Saturday night but somehow were able to pull off an incredible final play -- an eight-lateral kickoff return for a touchdown with no time remaining -- without having it called back.
Initially, a block in the back penalty was called at the end of the play, but after a nine-minute review, referees actually waved off the penalty and claimed the block the flag was thrown for occurred to the side of the defender. As such, the touchdown was ruled as scored, and the Canes were handed a 30-26 victory.
As awesome and incredible as the play was -- check it out at the top of the post if you missed it -- there is plenty of controversy about whether it should have counted.
There have been plenty of Twitter heroes that quickly stepped up after the play happened to sift through the film like the Zapruder tape, and the majority have concluded that the touchdown should not have stood for three reasons.
First, a lateral was made where the player's knee appears to be down.
Alright, a guys knee was probably (definitely) down. The review booth might not have thought it was indisputable enough to overturn it. I don't know; it's ACC refs, man.
Second, there were multiple potential block-in-the-back calls, including one prior to the lateral below.
If that wasn't the block in the back flagged on the field then they can't retroactively throw a flag; however, apparently they can pick up a flag if determined the block came from the side not the back. RULES!
Finally, there's the helmetless player that runs onto the field while Corn Elder, the last Miami player to touch the ball, is still in the field of play (at the very top left of the screen).
I don't have a defense for this one other than ... it was a really crazy play and fun should be allowed because sports are supposed to be fun sometimes.
I'm sorry, Duke fans, you quite probably got jobbed here. I'd be really mad if I were you, too. You should be upset, and you are quite likely going to be really mad at me.
That said, as a fan of chaos and fun, I like to see referees pretty much say, "That was awesome, forget the rules. Fun > Rules," for once and let something wild and crazy stand rather than call it back.
Again, I'm so sorry Duke. You don't deserve this. Should it have counted? Probably not. Is it awesome? Absolutely.
