The Miami (Ohio) Stadium Operations department came up with a very clever idea for its rivalry matchup with Ohio on Tuesday. Unfortunately, it was also very illegal.
The situation began late in the first half, when Ohio’s Brack Peacock missed a 34-yard field goal attempt that would have given the Bobcats a 20-7 lead heading into the locker room. However, the officials then intervened and stated the following:
“In the previous play, there were depictions of the goal posts on the scoreboard. This is an unsportsmanlike conduct foul against Miami. Half the distance to the goal, automatic first down.”
Another look at the play, specifically from Peacock’s perspective, shows what the officials were talking about. You can certainly see how this might not be considered sportsmanship:
The penalty gave Ohio new life, but with just six seconds left. A pass from Magnus Haines to Evan Herrmann on first and goal fell incomplete to end the first half. Undeterred by the penalty, Miami scored 27 unanswered points in the second half to win the “Battle of the Bricks,” 34-17.
Advertisement
Miami cannot, however, be considered the initiator of the video board subterfuge. That honor belongs to Oklahoma State, which pulled off something similar on a field goal attempt in a 2020 game against Texas. In this case, however, the Cowboys lined the video board with a bunch of yellow vertical lines, rather than the extra shots from the goal posts used by the Redhawks.
Texas head coach Tom Herman was unhappy with the tactic and contacted the Big 12 after the game. A few months later, the NCAA announced a rule change in which “operators of video boards and lighting systems were included among the personnel who must not create a distraction that could interfere with play.”
The current NCAA football rules outline several ways a team can incur a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, so take your pick on what Miami violated:
“Persons subject to the rules, including marching band and audio/video/lighting system operators, shall not create any noise or distraction that prevents a team from hearing its signals or obstructs play (Rule 1-1-6).”
“No equipment may be used to confuse opponents (Rule 1-4-2-d).
Miami isn’t even the first program to try this despite this rule change, as a Reddit user noticed Indiana using the same trick against North Texas earlier this season and avoiding a penalty.
Advertisement
This is all just for the college ranks, as the New England Patriots seem to have been doing something along these lines for over a decade. The NFL specifically banned the quibble earlier this season, weeks after former NFL team analytics expert Ryan Paganetti denounced what he described as “a diabolically clever piece of Patriots gamesmanship.”
Paganetti showed several field goal attempts at Gillette Stadium in which the Patriots put a back angle of the kick on the video board, sneakily adding another pair of uprights to the kicker’s vision. According to Paganetti, he found dozens of examples and it was only done when the road crew was in action. He said the Philadelphia Eagles tried to copy it, but were unable to do so due to the location of the video boards at Lincoln Financial Field.
Advertisement
You can even see it on one of the most infamous plays in Baltimore Ravens history, Billy Cundiff’s 32-yard field goal miss in the 2012 AFC Championship Game that sent the Patriots to Super Bowl XLVI. Take a look at the video board behind the goal posts.
Suffice it to say, we’re still learning how Bill Belichick found fringe benefits.
Gn sports
