The "blame the refs" and "penalties are skewed" narratives have gotten completely out of hand. I was at Louisville and surrounded by Louisville fans. I have no idea whether Louisville fans are THIS ****Y for every single game, but it was bad where I was sitting, and I tend to believe that the reaction of the Louisville ***** around me matched what the rest of the Louisville ***** were thinking/saying, based on the booing I heard in-person and rewatching the game on TV.
I'm actually exhausted by the fake and manufactured "critical call" whining. That's bull****. In-person and on TV, you could hear the Louisville ***** complaining on EVERY CLOSE PLAY, all game long. First Louisville drive, we forced the QB out-of-bounds and the Louisville ***** around me lost their ****, screaming for a penalty to be called. And this repeated itself on EVERY Miami sideline tackle, EVERY Miami defensed-pass, and EVERY Miami offensive play that resulted in yardage. I actually started laughing whenever the Louisville ***** around me complained.
And here's the thing. Nearly every single complaint from the Louisville ***** HAD NO BEARING ON THE DRIVE OR THE OUTCOME. For example, when Mauigoa was covering the receiver who almost caught a touchdown, the Louisville ***** SCREAMED that "he never turned his head". I then explained that it only makes a difference if Mauigoa had raised his hands up and attempted to faceguard the receiver without turning his head to see the ball, and that you are free to cover a receiver with your back to the QB (sure, you might get burned if the receiver catches the ball) but it's not a penalty. Then, after the Louisville ***** *****ed and moaned about that no-call, they scored a TD two plays later.
Right now, the reality is that EVERY SINGLE OPPONENT (and/or their fanbase) will scream about EVERY penalty called against them, as well as scream about EVERY penalty "not called" against us, until such time that they can get to the fourth quarter and point out ONE call, at which point they can bravely claim that they've been complaining about the officiating "all game long".
Meanwhile, they will keep their ****y mouths shut when it goes the other way to favor them. During their kickoff return for a touchdown, I watched an obvious block-in-the-back take place right in front of me. The reason it was so obvious is because the Miami player blocked in the back was the FIRST guy to get near the returner. The Miami player went flying to the ground after the push, but there was no flag. And it's particularly egregious, as kickoff returns are (statistically) the single type of play on which the most penalties are called. Then I tried to watch a replay on TV and all they showed was the drone shot from the kicker's perspective. It was a ******* touchdown, and they can only show one replay?
But it was "crickets" from the Louisville ***** around me on the subject of any penalty there.
And the later Cam Ward pass incompletion (mistakenly called a fumble) was beyond obvious. Look at how far FORWARD the ball traveled. With a defender going the opposite way and hitting his arm, the ball should have popped up or gone backwards if it was a fumble. Cam has a strong arm, the lock-and-load is quick, and the ball shot forward. Case closed. None of the Louisville ***** would acknowledge that there is a difference between "the ref saw it and called it like he saw it" and "letting the play continue, because blowing the whistle 'too soon' is non-reviewable, while any other call IS reviewable". The fact remains, the ball shot FORWARD, consistent with an arm going forward, not an arm that has been hit and lost control of the ball.
Finally, let's review just how "awful" the refs were, both to the Louisville ***** and to Miami for an entire season, keeping in mind that "let the boys play a physical game" is a general approach that does not favor one team over another.
First, the penalty numbers for Miami vs. Louisville.
Miami - 5 penalties for 55 yards
Louisville - 6 penalties for 38 yards
Once again, Miami was the more-severely-penalized team. And, NO, I am not going to give credence to all the "but look at all the calls they missed" when the Louisville ***** were screaming for a Miami penalty on nearly every play.
Second, through 7 games, we are STILL the second-most-penalized team in the ACC. And when you look at the comparatives with who we've played (and even who we are about to play) the ONLY possible complaint from another heavily-penalized team is Cal. And they are mostly whining about a targeting no-call that the refs on the field didn't call, and that the replay booth did NOT overturn. Though we will probably hear some whining this week from F$U fans, but I think all of their penalties are largely due to incompetence.
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