Great article. I really like the Miami program and wish they were dominant again. They churned out great NFL talent and the teams were bad ass. The 2001 team is the best team I have ever seen. The 2004 USC team is the only team that's even remotely close. That was a bullshit PI call that fucked Miami in 2002. They are probably my second favorite program. It's too bad they have fucked up their last two coaching hires.
Miami is kind of hypocrites for the whining about FSU. UW beat Miami, yet they don't acknowledge that. I fully get Miami's thinking that they should have won that game and were the better team, but that's irrelevant. When they played, they lost. It's not like UW's one loss was to a bad team either. Oregon was a top 10 team that beat Texas in the Holiday Bowl. I would assume the Pac 10 was stronger than the Big East as well. It's too fucking bad there wasn't a playoff to settle it. That would have sucked.
TL, DR: Cry me a fucking river Miami. UW had just as much right to be upset.
The Miami corner grabbed the wrs jersey with the ball in the air. That's pass interference. Watch the replay.
(1) fuck off.
(2) i've watched the replay a thousand times, which means, and this should surprise neither of us, that I've wathced it about 999.8 times more than you have. and I just watched it again.
(3) don't even bother starting this shit.
(4) Gamble initiated the only contact that occurred on that play, almost all of which occurred after the ball was sailing over his head. In fact, for the brief period of time that his back was to Sharpe he saw that the ball was high relative to where he was on his route and turned around and ran straight into and through Glenn Sharpe, who, miraculously STILL didn't touch him with his hands as he had his arms open as if inviting Gamble for a hug - which he didn't do. If anything, Gamble, WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE BALL, impeded Sharpe's ability to make a play on the ball you could have called offensive PI.
(5) Aside from the fact that there was no technical pass interference, it is obvious from watching the replay that Sharpe really didn't defend shit and had no effect on the play - that Gamble didn't get to where he needed to be or have his body in the right position relative to kris kringle's pass. so from a "let's play fucking football" standpoint you just don't make that fucking call, and it took the ref an eternity to dig the flag out from is ass crack to throw it.
this about covers it:
that all said, Miami should never have been at that point with Ohio State and it was their own fault. OSU had an active D line and that caused some problems early until Kehoe was able to make adjustments, which shouldn't have been that hard because Miami had a great O line in 2002 and was still overall flush with ridiculous amounts of talent on both sides of the ball. just one of those days - they took too long to get going. 9 times out of 10 games against that team Miami runs out in front and it's never close. but my aunt doesn't have balls so that's why she's not my uncle.
3:09 mark. You can see the jersey getting pulled. 1:47 mark you can see the ball in the air and Sharpes arm make the movement.
Sharpe pulled him in the opposite direction he was trying to turn. Had Gamble been able to turn faster he may have caught the ball. So he certainly impacted the play.
You're wrong. The only valid argument is the game had not been called that tight up until that point. There was more contact on previous pass attempts that was not called. But no one can legitimately argue that pulling a wrs jersey with the ball in the air isn't pass interference by rule.
You may not like it but that's the truth.
no, you are.
of course i don't like it, and i'm sure you do, but neither one of those things means jack shit.
at 1:47 - uh, the balls about to hit the ground at that point and Gamble is falling on Sharpe, effectively preventing HIM from making any play on the ball. remember, you can have offensive PI too and when the ball is in the air the defender has a right to make a play on it as well. 1:47 shows absolutlely nothing other than Gamble mounting Sharpe for some missionary. at that point the play's over and they're both falling down.
likewise, 3:09 shows Sharpe running next to Gamble and there is nothing in that blur that shows that he's even touching him.
if I were to study this all day I could probably find some other instances that better support your argument than those two crap references, which support my view more than yours if anything.
i know one thing: if the way Sharpe defended that play were routinely called PI, NOBODY would ever agree to play the corner position. NOBODY.
in the final analysis, the ball hit BOTH Gamble's hands and his face mask no part of Sharpe's body was anywhere near the peanut - Sharpe wasn't doing anything but getting abused in the air game because he didn't jump. Gamble didn't make the play and if Sharpe is guilty of anything it was that he didn't finish. he did well to stay with Gamble, who was a great receiver, but in the end a DB has to make a play on the ball or do SOMETHING. Sharpe didn't do shit when the ball was in the air, including even touch Gamble. if there was contact, it was Gamble playing into Sharpe's body. you can clearly see his arms are out but not touching Gamble.
there is not one frame on the internet that has been shown to me that shows, even fuzzy, Gamble's white jersey, which contrasts nicely with the green turf, being tugged. not one.
find it and I'll concede.
remember he's allowed to bump him at the line even in the red zone.
of course if Gamble had been uncovered he probably catches it. that is the point of being a defender. but nothing he did ultimately interfered with Gamble making that drop. it was all him.
i don't even see incidental contact in that clip until the ball is falling away from Gamble, and again, it is GAMBLE who is initiating it.
if Gamble makes that catch, Miami fans from that time until now run Sharpe up a flag pole for not making a play.
one of the worst calls i've ever seen.