The explanation as to why Georgia wasn’t awarded a first down on the defensive holding call in the first half boggles my mind.
The officiating crew led by head referee Penn Wagers, botched a defensive holding call in the first half. Mohamed Massaquoi drew a defensive holding penalty in the end zone, but the crew failed to award a first down. Richt blamed himself for not questioning the call more vigorously because he was unsure of the rule. Automatic first downs are only awarded for holds against eligible receivers and the referees were confused about whether Massaquoi, who wears jersey No. 1, was an eligible receiver…
Pardon my French, but you’ve got to be shitting me. The guy’s a senior. Last year, he burned Florida on an 84 yard TD reception in a game that these same clowns officiated. And they can’t recall whether he’s an eligible receiver?
Let’s hope that Wagers and Company aren’t making a return trip to this year’s WLOCP. Between Massaquoi and Percy Harvin, they could have some real problems with defensive holding calls. Sheesh.
Get The Picture 
Let’s see…. He’s tall, slender, wears #1, lines up at wide receiver and he’s caught a couple of balls today. Definitely a offensive lineman.
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Unbelievable – you really can’t make the good stuff up….
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When the flag was thrown I was ecstatic at the thought of a fresh set of downs. . .then the next play I was stunned that the announcers made no mention of why it was still 3rd and goal. That’s about what I’d expect from Penn “Massengill” Wagers.
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Since the zebras were “confused” about MM’s eligibility, why not call up to the replay booth and see where he was lined up??
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BHP – how dare you use logic and common sense in saying that! =)
The more I think about this officiating blunder, the more I’m speechless.
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Watched a few snippets of the noon replay on CSS. The helmet to helmet was the right call. Why CSS could show us more replay angles than CBS I’ll never understand, but they showed one from the side line where it happened, kind of closer in and lower to the field. Morley is indeed leading with his shoulder, however the top of his helmet still catches Massaquoi flush on the chin.
Also, my money is on the Wagers explanation being utter BS – he knows he blew the call but he can’t say “hey, sorry, we missed one”.
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Did anybody notice how many times the refs held up the game in the first quarter to talk things over? I mean offsides on defense- lets talk it over. Then the holding hall in the end zone had no ref conference. I think the refs knew they had been a drag on the game and were trying to move along.
Then in the second half, when we had all those insuffarable TV timeouts, we came back from commercial and you could see the TV timer guy standing on the field, and we’d get a live CBS programming commercial then the announcers had twenty more seconds to recap the game while we looked at our offense waiting for TV in the huddle. The TV guys had nothing to say- they were terrible – everyone was just waiting for the TV timer guy to get off the field. Can’t they get the game back in play quicker? Arrrrgh!
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HVL Dawg, at least we’re shortening the game on the field in game clock.
We all knew the networks would use this time to their advantage.
As ticket holders we pay more money and see less game and wait longer through the commericals.
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A question related to the holding call/penalty enforcement:
First of all, know that I was a little drunk and don’t remember the exact scenario. Wasn’t it nth and long around the 10-12 yard line with the first down markers around the 4?
From the way I understand it, penalties are enforced as half-the-distance when they are incurred within twice the penalty yardage from the goal-line. Example, inside the 10 for a 5 yarder and inside the 20 for a 10 yarder. With the line of scrimmage at the 12, a defensive holding penalty (holding an ineligible rec.) would have spotted the ball now at the 6. Since it didn’t cross sticks, it would not be a 1st down. Is this a plausible scenario or am I just trying to make things too complex?
I suppose it was my ignorance that I did not know it was an automatic first down because the player held was an eligible reciever. But the above logic was how I reconciled with myself about the down still being 3rd instead of getting a fresh set.
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Paul — Defensive holding on an eligible receiver is an automatic first down. No questions asked.
Has anyone else noticed how UGA always gets screwed when Penn Wagers is the head official? The GA/FL game last year was ridiculous and the GA/AU game last year was no different. He was the ref in both games. And then there was the call on Saturday……….hmmmm……..I’m not sayin, I’m just sayin!!!!!!!
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It was third down. They get the call right and Georgia’s got the ball on the three, first and goal. Given their other troubles in the red zone, I’m not going to assume they would have scored a TD rather than kicking that field goal. But I would have liked their chances with four cracks at it.
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If MoMass wasn’t an eligible receiver, shouldn’t they have penalized Georgia for an ineligible receiver downfield? It has to be one way or the other. Not both. I knew they blew the call from Sec. 103… I was yelling it as loud as I could, but alas, to no avail.
I’m still waiting for that call to be supervisor of officials, because I clearly have a better understanding of the rule book than Penn freakin’ Wagers and his crackshot crew. I have my resume ready, just in case.
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Yeah I saw the thing from section 109 and had a conversation with my friends about it. That was one of the biggest refereeing blunders I have ever witnessed. Oh well at least we got the W.
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Didn’t see the play in question, but eligibility as a receiver is determined by formation. Massaquoi’s a receiver, wears No. 1, etc., but if he was “covered up” — if he was on the line of scrimmage, and there was another man lined up on the line of scrimmage outside of him — he could still be ineligible. That’s a pretty rare mistake, though, and it usually only happens to tight ends.
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Technically the DB was “holding” MoMass, but the ball was in the air, so the call should have been pass interference, right? = automatic 1st down!!
Yeah, they basically blew that call, but c’mon guys, we got more breaks Saturday than UT did. The phantom interference call that kept our drive going was a key missed call; several personal fouls could’ve easily been overlooked. As much as I can’t stand Penis Wagers, I think he and his crew got their colors mixed up and thought UT was UGA.
Here’s to hoping we NEVER see him call one of our games again!!!!!!!!
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Doc, if the formation were such that Massaquoi was covered up and thus ineligible, wouldn’t that mean that Georgia would have been guilty of an infraction on that play, since he clearly went past the line of scrimmage on a passing play?
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Why isn’t Wagers suspended. You folks are talking about all sorts of bad judgement calls—that’s one thing. But when an officiating crew misapplies the rules, they should be suspended. It’s not complicated. Plus, defensive holding is not an
obscure call.
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Wagers is worth 14 pts to any team playing the Dawgs!! Forward to SEC officiating officials and BCS
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Pingback: Issues with SEC Referees
Well, Wagers and Co. did it again. Can anyone uncover who the mustachioed idiot ref was on the Florida sideline? He missed the Florida hold on AJ Green, incorrectly ruled Tebow’s first sneak a TD, missed the offensive pass interference call with Asher Allen…I lost track of all his blown calls.
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