The officiating crew in Atlanta absolutely stole a touchdown from Georgia Tech during their Week 1 clash with Colorado. A whistle blew way too early, and the officials ruled that forward progress had stopped for the Buffaloes right when the Yellow Jackets player scooped up the ball.
That single call negated a clear scoop-and-score, which is a massive play to lose. The community is calling it a botch because the refs made a choice that changed the game’s trajectory. Fans are right to be angry about the call that took points off the board and left a scoreless box for a play that should have been worth seven.
A Whistle That Stole The Game
Georgia Tech and Colorado kicked off their seasons in a power conference clash that started with promise before the refs killed it fast. A play happened where Colorado running back Damian Henderson II got stripped, and a Georgia Tech player picked it up and ran it back for a touchdown.
The officials blew the whistle before the Yellow Jackets even got ready for an extra-point try, so they took the score away and gave the ball back to Colorado because they said forward progress was stopped. The rules say they could not review the play because of that call, so the result was a nullified score for Georgia Tech that left the stadium buzzing with confusion.
Chris Beasmore, a Kentucky writer, hit the nail on the head regarding the sequence of events. According to him, the officials determined that Colorado’s forward progress ended, preventing any review of the play. This ruling nullified a scoop-and-score play for Georgia Tech, and the anger is real. One Miami writer went even further with the criticism, and a Texas Tech podcaster agreed with the sentiment that a scoop and score ought to have been awarded to the Yellow Jackets.
The standard of refereeing in the season opener is the real problem here, not just one bad play. If officials can blow a whistle early and then claim they cannot fix it, the game is broken. The officials took the touchdown back and gave Colorado the ball back, effectively negating a scoop-and-score for Georgia Tech.
This sets a terrible tone for the whole season, and another voice in the crowd said, according to Yahoo Sports, “That’s one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen in the GT/Col.” The frustration is widespread because Georgia Tech had a touchdown literally stolen by the referees, making it one of the biggest botches anyone has seen. Disgraceful.
The extra-point attempt was also messed up since the refs blew the whistle before the kick was even set. They can’t even kick an extra point in Colorado GT without shenanigans, with the GT punter and kicker acting like [expletive] tonight along with these refs. The chaos on the field was not just on the players because the officials were the ones who lost control. They made a decision that favored one team over the other, and the numbers do not lie. A touchdown was taken, a chance to score more was lost, and the game changed because of a bad call.
The season started with a bang, but the officiating crew killed the momentum before the first quarter ended. Georgia Tech fans are furious, the writers are calling it out, and the play was a scoop and score. The whistle was early, the ruling was wrong, and the refs cannot review the play. The score was taken away, the game is over, and the call stands while the outrage grows. This is the kind of night that makes fans lose faith in the system, and the officials need to answer for this because the Yellow Jackets deserved the points.
