Oregon State AD calls out conference over light punishment of officials

By Cliff Kirkpatrick
Gazette-Times Reporter

The Pacific-10 Conference review of officiating during the Oregon State football game Saturday night was not what athletic director Bob De Carolis expected.

So he pressed the issue. De Carolis asked commissioner Tom Hansen on Tuesday morning to look at the video the coaches sent him, which contain different angles than the TV feed.

Pac-10 representative Josh O’Toole said the video was received before noon and there would be no response Tuesday, but maybe today.

“I was concerned with the management of the game from the officials on the field,” De Carolis said. “I felt that wasn’t handled well at a lot of different levels. My recommendation to Tom was the officials get reprimanded, and that didn’t come out. As to instant replay (officials), not only a reprimand, that should go beyond that. That didn’t happen.”

Tension escalated as officials lost control of the game with Washington, even though eight personal fouls were called and four players ejected. Three were Oregon State players.

The Huskies repeatedly hit safety Al Afalava late in response to his hit that sent quarterback Jake Locker to the hospital for a neck stinger.

It reached the point that OSU running back Yvenson Bernard’s helmet was ripped off in a pile and he was punched in the face without a penalty near the end of the first half. The ejections came in the second half on two different incidents.

“The bottom line is student-athletes, coaches and officials need to manage the game,” De Carolis said. “I’m not condoning what we did. But if the only people being held accountable for the mismanagement are the student-athletes, then something is wrong.”

Bad calls by the officials throughout the game nearly cost the Beavers the game and added to the dangerous situation in the stands. Hansen admitted errors by the replay officials and reprimanded them.

One call is the focal point of the review. Bernard was said to have fumbled on the Washington goal line with less than three minutes left in the game, but replays clearly showed that wasn’t the case.

An official was watching the play with a close-up, clear view. Then no review was done at the time and the Huskies nearly won the game on that drive.

“The purpose of instant replay is to get it right, or attempt to get it right, on a game-changing play,” De Carolis said. “The inability to stop the play is flat out wrong. For that, that person should be held accountable. A letter of reprimand doesn’t get it for me. We are requesting that person be docked a game or some other penalty.”

What frustrated De Carolis most was the indifference the Pac-10 showed toward OSU.

Director of instant replay Verle Sorgen was quoted about the lack of review on the called fumble saying, “it wasn’t that egregious. Unless you are an Oregon State fan.”

It was taken by De Carolis as the Beavers are insignificant. Hansen agreed it was an inappropriate comment. De Carolis asked for an apology from Sorgen.

“Off the field they swallowed their whistles,” De Carolis said. “They wanted to sweep this under the rug and get on with it.”

The football team has put the issue behind, but De Carolis is keeping up the fight. He wants something done so it doesn’t happen again.

Coach Mike Riley doesn’t support instant replay and De Carolis has been concerned about it being used properly.

De Carolis is not trying to get rid of it, just improve the process and point out the poor officiating in the Pac-10.

“I don’t know how you fix it,” De Carolis said. “The protocols are there, it’s the execution. We have to totally review who those people are. We are spending a lot money on instant replay.”