Seriously, what would have happened....

[historybill]

... had Florida scored on the play that didn't exist?

I was on the front row screaming that the game was over, the game was over, and for some reason they stopped the clock.

WHY?

The only time I've ever seen that before was when they gave Colorado five downs.

Can you IMAGINE if the refs had done that to any other team in the SEC????

[AuricGoldfinger]

I would have burned Birmingham to the ground.

[OldDude]

And also seriously, the SEC office would have been ecstatic. Always happy to up the quality of bowl participation and screw the "little guys".

[egbertsouse]

If Florida had scored, I have little doubt that there is nothing the SEC would have done either during or after the game. If Florida had kicked the XP the game would have gone to OT. Whoever won in OT, it would have stood. Had Florida won, there is no way the SEC office would have overturned the result on Monday.

[Dores137]

Who does the clock operator work for? Do they work for Vanderbilt, are they an SEC official or a third party? I had always been under the impression the operator worked for the home team or stadium and that is why it seems these type of timing errors generally favor the home team. If the operator does work for Vanderbilt, I happily volunteer for the job. Qualifications: Cat like reflexes when it benefits Vanderbilt and an "Opps did I let 15 seconds go off the clock? My bad..." attitude - also when it benefits Vanderbilt.

[Levon]

Who does the clock operator work for? Do they work for Vanderbilt, are they an SEC official or a third party? I had always been under the impression the operator worked for the home team or stadium and that is why it seems these type of timing errors generally favor the home team. If the operator does work for Vanderbilt, I happily volunteer for the job. Qualifications: Cat like reflexes when it benefits Vanderbilt and an "Opps did I let 15 seconds go off the clock? My bad..." attitude - also when it benefits Vanderbilt.

I understand your question, but the clock operator wasn't to blame. The Linesman stopped the clock, apparently ruling the receiver went out of bounds...he clearly did not. Then the Referee was terribly slow to wind the clock when he figured out that it should be running. Based on him winding the clock, he understood that the receiver didn't get out of bounds and he should have declared the game over. I used to officiate HS football...what happened at the end the game was COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

[MrMemorial]

Refs fault...not the clock guy at all.

[LawoftheWest]

What would have happened? Sadly, we would have to cry in our beer and go home.

The officials would not have ruled that Vandy won, but for for their dumb mistake. The SEC might have said bad call, but they would not overturn the game results.

[DonYates]

What would have happened? Sadly, we would have to cry in our beer and go home.

The officials would not have ruled that Vandy won, but for for their dumb mistake. The SEC might have said bad call, but they would not overturn the game results.

It would have been "sorry about that but suck it up."

[Johnmn555]

Still, we need to pitch a fit to the league office, if only to lobby prospectively for next time the refs screw old Vandy.

[FayetteDore]

It took place directly in front of me and doubtless a bad call.

But I disagree that the SEC would have allowed a UF win to result, for this simple reason: the financial gain for the SEC from Florida going to a slightly better crappy bowl with 7 wins instead of 6 wouldn't have been big enough. The SEC would figure, what the hell, Florida is down this year, might as well let Vandy win one.

If real money were on the line though -- if the Gators were on the cusp of the playoffs or something -- different story.

[zdore]

The refs could always have thrown the excessive celebration flag.

[AuricGoldfinger]

The letter of apology would have been slightly longer than usual and delivered via FedEx instead of USPS.

[Lynchsr]

The refs explanation was he stopped the clock because he thought the FL play got a first down. That is why he spotted the ball. Once he realized it was not a first down he ran the ball into spot it.

It had nothing to do with being out of bounds.

[Golddore68]

What if CCL had thrown his challenge flag at that point? The refs would have been forced to rewatch the play and would have seen the guy didn’t pick up the first down or go out of bounds therefore the clock should have continued to run and therefore the game was over.

[thefan]

Who does the clock operator work for? Do they work for Vanderbilt, are they an SEC official or a third party? I had always been under the impression the operator worked for the home team or stadium and that is why it seems these type of timing errors generally favor the home team. If the operator does work for Vanderbilt, I happily volunteer for the job. Qualifications: Cat like reflexes when it benefits Vanderbilt and an "Opps did I let 15 seconds go off the clock? My bad..." attitude - also when it benefits Vanderbilt.

I understand your question, but the clock operator wasn't to blame. The Linesman stopped the clock, apparently ruling the receiver went out of bounds...he clearly did not. Then the Referee was terribly slow to wind the clock when he figured out that it should be running. Based on him winding the clock, he understood that the receiver didn't get out of bounds and he should have declared the game over. I used to officiate HS football...what happened at the end the game was COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE.

Check out Vegas!