We can all appreciate that the powers that be in professional and college football want to do what they can to protect its players – quarterbacks in particular. But one officiating team took things way, way too far in a Big Ten game today.
Indiana are at the Rose Bowl today taking on UCLA in a first-ever meeting between the two college basketball powerhouses. The Hoosiers have dominated pretty much from the get-go but the game is more likely to be remembered for an egregious roughing the passer penalty.
In the third quarter, Indiana defensive lineman Lanell Carr Jr. got a clear shot at UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers and took him down for a seemingly normal sack on the Bruins signal caller. But the flag was thrown for roughing the passer, likely because Carr’s helmet made contact with Garbers’.
Nevertheless, if you simply look at the play, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a legitimate reason for a flag to be thrown.
This was called roughing on Indiana… pic.twitter.com/PFGA4rqg0N
— Billy M (@BillyM_91) September 15, 2024
Just about everyone – particularly Indiana fans – are calling this an extremely bad call:
“Roughing the passer is laughable! The refs in this game must be graduates from UCLA! IU overcoming the Refs! Maybe they only play flag football in California!” one Hoosiers fan wrote.
“How in the hell is that roughing the passer on Indiana? HE SACKED THE DAMN QB,” wrote CBS’ Tom Fornelli on X.
“I may have just seen the worst roughing the passer call ever. It was a damn sack!!! Nothing more, nothing less. My god. #Indiana #UCLA,” wrote a third user.
There need to be tighter restrictions on what is and isn’t a roughing the passer penalty because if that’s a penalty, you might as well not allow defenders to sack quarterbacks anymore.
Related: Everyone’s Freaking Out About This “Roughing The Passer” Penalty