The ACC suspended the officiating crew as well as the replay official and communicator for two games following the Hurricanes game against Duke on Saturday night, the conference announced Sunday morning. The officiating crew committed a “series of errors” in Miami’s game-winning touchdown on a kickoff return with no time left on the clock, according to the ACC.
“The quality of our officiating program is of the highest importance to the league and its schools, and the last play of the game was not handled appropriately,” ACC Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “Officiating is an extraordinarily difficult job but our players, coaches, programs and fans deserve the best that can be offered. We will continue to strive to meet that standard.”
According to the ACC, the officials committed four errors on the final play. The replay official should have ruled Mark Walton’s knee was down before lateralling the ball. The on-field officials failed to penalize the Hurricanes for an illegal block back at Miami’s 16-yard line. The referee did not properly communicate why the flag that was thrown for a block in the black was picked up when the officials determined it was a legal block. Finally, the on-field crew did not penalize Miami for a player leaving the bench and running onto the field while the play was still going.
Miami beat Duke 30-27 as a result of the touchdown. According to ESPN reporter Andrea Adelson, the league does not have the authority to overturn the result of the game.
This was the team’s response to the announcement by the ACC:
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Miami Hurricanes (@MiamiHurricanes) November 1, 2015
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