ATHENS, Ga. - A controversial fumble call in last Saturday's Georgia-Georgia Tech game looks like a mistake, the supervisor for Southeastern Conference football officials said yesterday.
"It looks like they had a miss," Bobby Gaston said.
Gaston said Sunday he had not reviewed the game tape nor had he spoken to officials from Georgia. But after watching several replays of the play on television and speaking with members of the officiating crew, he said his officials messed up.
"It certainly appears from the coverage on local stations that (Jasper Sanks) was down," Gaston said. "We're all sad today. It's not a happy day for us."
No. 21 Georgia was 2 yards from the Georgia Tech goal line in the closing minute of Saturday's game. Georgia, having rallied from a 17-point deficit in the second half, sent Sanks into a pile. The ball popped loose.
Chris Young picked it up for the 17th-ranked Yellow Jackets with five seconds left, preserving a 48-48 tie and forcing overtime. Tech won 51-48.
Television replays showed Sanks had both knees down when the rest of his body crashed to the ground, forcing the ball to come loose. But, in college football there is no instant replay, so there was no chance for the officiating crew to get another look at the play.
The Monday morning admission is reminiscent of Michigan's game with Michigan State in 1990, where a failed two-point conversion resulted in No. 1 Michigan falling to the unranked Spartans, 28-27.
That following Monday, Big Ten officials admitted on ABC's "Good Morning America" that Desmond Howard was interfered with while attempting the game-winning catch.
11-30-99
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