Did a friendly clock help Texas football late in its win over KU? The Big 12 says yes
Kansas coach Les Miles believed that his team was hurt by a clock error in its 50-48 loss to Texas on Oct. 19.
Turns out he was right.
Big 12 coordinator of football officials Greg Burks confirmed Monday that Texas received extra time for its final drive that should not have been allowed.
Specifically, on a third-and-6, Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger scrambled eight yards in the middle of the field for a first down, with the clock stopping to reset the chains.
The game clock was supposed to restart on the official’s signal. Instead, it restarted after Ehlinger called for the snap ... more than 11 seconds after he had previously been tackled.
“The clock should have started at 32 seconds after the quarterback made a first down,” Burks said. “The chains were reset, the referee wound the clock and we missed — I’m going to guess — 4 seconds there that should have come off the clock at that point.”
Burks said it was an error by both the clock operator and the referees.
“The officials on the field should have noted that, reset it to 32 (seconds), and wound it on the signal,” Burks said. “We did acknowledge that to Coach Miles and Kansas.”
Burks confirmed that the clock operator in Big 12 games is in the press box; in college basketball, there are instances when officials on the court can stop and start the game clock themselves.
“When we evaluate timing, there has to be a little bit of lag time there for recognition in the booth,” Burks said, “but that’s why we put the clock operator up in the press box, so he can see the entire field.”
Texas utilized all the time available in its final drive. It ran 10 plays in its game-winning 1-minute, 11-second drive, and the Longhorns also were able to set themselves up for an easier field goal in the final moments.
With 8 seconds left, Ehlinger completed a six-yard sideline pass to Devin Duvernay, which turned a potential 39-yard game-winning field goal attempt into a 33-yard try.
Kicker Cameron Dicker put that through with no time left to seal Texas’ win.
Miles said on Oct. 21 that he’d turned in the clock matter to the Big 12 office.
“I think they made a mistake. It’s fundamental, and I accept that,” he said Monday. “OK, 4 seconds probably meant a play, and back it up ... who knows?”
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 12:19 PM.
