Why does it feel like a loss? Thank you PAC-12 officiating

[YodaUte]

I suspect this post will tick some people off, but I’m rolling with it anyway.

The Utes got outplayed yesterday. Outside from the turnovers, our defense didn’t play very well. We got gashed for a lot of big plays. We gave up a ton of 3rd-and-long conversions. Washington gained more yards, got more first downs and possessed the ball longer than the Utes. By the time they cut it to a one-point game I was resigned to the fact that Washington was the better team.

I posted before the USC game that I’m a conspiracy guy. I’ve felt for a long time the PAC officiating will give, on occasion, an edge to certain teams. I wondered if Utah would benefit from this alleged favoritism. Before the USC game got out of hand, there were at least three calls in our favor that could easily have gone the other way or been no-calls. Of course we lost because of all the interceptions. Officials can’t–and don’t–determine the outcome of games where one team is clearly superior to another. But they can sometimes “help.”

Now with Utah as the only team in the north south with a shot at the playoffs, there is a clear motive for favoritism by officials (assuming one believes in such a thing). There were several calls that had huge impact on the game. The holding call that negated a Huskie touchdown and the offensive PI that stopped a likely scoring drive are two examples of calls that would never have gone in our favor if Utah were an MWC team going against the PAC.

Don’t mistake my commentary for complaining. I find a sense of sweet poetic irony to see PAC-12 officiating starting to work in our favor.

• This topic was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by YodaUte.

[89ute]

I think you might be right. It’s called the rich get richer. We are finally reaping the benefits. Look at all the play we got prior to the Southern Cal loss. #3, wow. It feels strange because it is strange. We’ve been fighting against it our whole football lives.

It’s like being the heavy weight champ. You hardly ever lose a fight if it comes down to a decision. You have to knock out the champ to take his title.

[rbmw263]

Utah gained more yards per snap that UW. I dont think we were outplayed like you think. They gashed us a few times, but we held them to 4.8 yards per play (which is very good) and made some big time plays in HUGE moments, on both sides of the ball. We got the benefit of a call or two, sure. But we’ve had enough bad calls go against us. I dont feel bad at all.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

We must have been watching different games.

Outside of the 3rd quarter, I felt the Utah defense was solid. The secondary gave up a few big plays but more often than not they were in good position. Paul and Norris were ALL OVER THE FIELD. Our D-Line did their job well outside of two big runs.

The offense stalled a few times and Travis made a few questionable throws but he managed the game well and made some big runs. He also scored two touchdowns himself if you didn’t notice. Booker took over the game in the 4th.

Take off your tinfoil hat. There is no conspiracy or “favortism”. Refs are human and they aren’t going to catch everything and get every call right.

Oh, and Utah is in the South.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by UteStuckInSeattle.

[YodaUte]

Take off your tinfoil hat. There is no conspiracy or “favortism”. Refs are human and they aren’t going to catch everything and get every call right.

Conspiracy doesn’t mean crazy. The word conspiracy means that two or more people get together (conspire) to affect a certain outcome. If you honestly believe this sort of thing never happens then I’ve got some beach-front property in Nevada I’d like to sell you.

If Utah’s defense is as good as you say, why to the odds makers keep making us the underdogs? Is that a “conspiracy?” I think the truth of the matter is that Utah is good but not as deep as we’d like to think. It’s an uncomfortable truth but a truth nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

I like Tahoe not bad beach front property.

[FormerUteSax]

Oddsmakers are trying to influence betting. They could care less who is the favorite to win. They just want an equivelant amount bet on both sides of the line. That’s why the line moves throughout the week.

[YodaUte]

Oddsmakers are trying to influence betting. They could care less who is the favorite to win. They just want an equivelant amount bet on both sides of the line. That’s why the line moves throughout the week.

Oddsmakers know more about the game than anyone in the media. You assume the line is based on Ute fans being from a smaller population base than an opponent from an area with more TV sets. I reject that logic. If Utah is the dominant force you believe, gamblers from across the nation would jump on that and force the line to move in our favor.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

Do the odds makers play the game? Who honestly cares if they pick our team to win or not?

We’ve got the job done 8 out of 9 tries this season. Isn’t that what really matters?

[Anonymous]

https://media.giphy.com/media/3h5pe45FM9qUM/giphy.gif

Yeah I don’t see it. Defensively Utah pretty much dominated. If Utah had ran the ball more often it wouldn’t have been a contest. Wilson can’t read for crap in the pass game anymore. He is a very good doing the read option though as long as he doesn’t try too hard for meaningless yards and gets injured. Which again he has been better about when and where he is hit.

[UteFanatic]

Sure feels like a win to me. Bad calls go both ways and we have been on the wrong side of many officiating gaffes. Just enjoy the win and stop trying to find reasons to downgrade it. You don’t get to 8-1 in the Pac by not being good. We toughed it out and got a win on the road against the best D in the league.

[Tony (admin)]

I find myself getting caught up with the aesthetics of the game, jealous of all these teams we are playing who have better QB’s and better passing games. The funny thing is, we keep beating them.

We can get caught up in stats and all that, but the only stat that matters is wins and losses at the end of the day.

[YodaUte]

My point remains valid. If Utah were a team from the Mountain West, do you really think that offensive PI call would have gone in our favor?

Just for kicks, lets back off on the idea of premeditated collusion. What if you were asked to referee a Junior Jazz game for your kid’s team because the regular ref called in sick. Then the obnoxious kid from the other team blocks your kid’s shot. You think there was contact so you call a foul. Are you sure it was really a foul? Do your really think your personal bias played absolutely no role in you calling that foul? It happens, and you’re fooling yourself if you deny it.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

True to the spirit of your post, you’re seeing something in this situation because you WANT to see something.

What do referees, who have no personal affiliation with any teams in this league, have to gain by putting their jobs on the line by making calls that play to the imagined personal bias you are claiming they have?

As I’ve stated before, they are human. They’ll occasionally make mistakes, but it goes both ways.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by UteStuckInSeattle.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t call the foul but I am an asshole om the court. I play old school style ball.

[TheJuggernaut]

There may be something to what you’re saying, but the bottom line is this – with 8 minutes left in the game we got the ball, up one, and proceeded to grind out a 5 minute TD drive on the legs of Wilson and Booker. I thought there were some curious calls in favor of both sides, but it all came down to that drive. Winning teams have drives like that, UW had the momentum, and despite any perceived bad calls against them they had a chance to get a stop and take the lead. If we go three and out there UW probably scores to take the lead. Add to that they got the ball back with 3 minutes left, down one score, and Fitts makes a play to get us the ball back.

Like I said there may a something to what you’re suggesting, but in the end Utah made plays when they had to, UW didn’t, ultimately that’s what separates championship teams from the rest of the pack.

[Anonymous]

Yes that drive put the stake in UW’s heart. And it was all running.

Vegas odds merely reflect their desire to balance the betting on each side. It reflects the money flow, not who they expect to win. If your a better, this creates opportunity. I did not see Utah losing to UW. I also never expected to see a romp like they did against Oregon. Just winning ugly is what Utah does.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

Vegas odds makers crunch the numbers and make their predictions in way that makes the most logical sense to entice people on both sides of the contest to make bets.

If this weren’t the case, then why would the line change over the course of the week before the games?

Think about it this way. Does someone betting more money on a certain team change the outcome of the game?

[Anonymous]

It’s like the stock market. There’s momentum investors who buy what others are buying. Then there’s value investors who typically see and buy value where others don’t.

Utah opened at -5.5 against AZ. At this point in the season, I would not expect a very high spread for any game Utah is favored. With the exception of the Oregon game, they just have not demonstrated an ability to put games away and that is what the betters are focused on.

[UteStuckInSeattle]

Bingo.

In quite a few contests Utah’s opponents are looking better in statistics and in “perception” so the line reflects that. However where it matters on game day, the scoreboard, Utah is coming out on top 90% of the time this season.

The line could -100 in favor or Utah’s opponent and it wouldn’t phase me one bit.

We know what Utah football and what they are capable of. If they play THEIR game the rest of the way and avoid mistakes we’ll be bound for the P12 Championship.

GO UTES!!!

[Mano]

Washington did not lose because of the refs, they lost because Utah’s defense took the ball away 4 times and their defense could not stop Utah’s run game in the 4th quarter when they knew it was coming. There were bad calls on both sides. There is no conspiracy by the league to favor Utah, that is just stupid. If anything, they would prefer Utah to lose so the big market USC team can be in the CCG.