This afternoon’s SMU-Louisville game was not without controversy.
The Mustangs beat the No. 22 Cardinals 34-27 on an LJ Johnson Jr. touchdown run with 6:39 remaining. If not for a questionable overturned fumble call, SMU would not have been in position to win the game.
A few plays before Johnson scored, Mustangs running back Brashard Smith lost a fumble. However, upon review, officials said Smith’s shin was down while he still had possession, and the call was overturned.
“I don’t see how they got there,” ESPN rules analyst Matt Austin said during the broadcast. “You really can’t see the ball. The shin does go down but you can’t tell if the ball is coming out at that point in my opinion.”
A fumble from SMU RB Brashard Smith was overturned after review, with officials ruling that it was “clear and obvious” that Smith’s shin was down with possession before the fumble.
Bob Wischusen on the ESPN call, with rules analyst Matt Austin chiming in. 🏈🦓🎙️ pic.twitter.com/qi3dXQZDRd
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 5, 2024
We’ll let you be the judge, but in our eyes, it’s tough to reverse that call. It looks like Smith’s shin might have been down in time, but in order to overturn something on review, it has to be indisputable.
Does that look indisputable? We don’t think so, and many viewers didn’t either.
“When it’s that bang-bang, you’ve gotta just go with the call on the field. No clue how they overturned that,” one person said.
“What a joke, Louisville should demand a full apology from the conference,” another person added.
“The @ACCFootball officials are the worst in the country and lead the B1G by a large margin,” a third person argued.
“Ball was coming out as his leg was going down. Ruling on the field of a fumble should have stood,” a fourth person chimed in.
With the win, SMU moved to 5-1 on the season and 2-0 in ACC play, while Louisville fell to 3-2 and 1-1 in conference.
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