Nearby referee completely misses Oregon player dropping ball before crossing goal line

Pac-12 referees are going to Pac-12 referee.

In the first quarter of the Oregon-Arizona State game, Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert tossed a short pass to tight end Pharaoh Brown, who took it 72 yards on a beautiful run to the end zone for a touchdown. Or did he?

One yard before crossing the goal line, it looked as if Brown had tossed the ball up out of his hand to celebrate, but the official, who was standing just a few yards away, didn’t question the validity of the touchdown.

What’s worse is that the replay official, whose job is to confirm scoring plays and turnovers, didn’t think to stop the game and review the play despite indisputable evidence that Brown let go of the ball before actually going into the end zone. Instead, the Ducks would take an early 7-0 lead over the Sun Devils.

While Arizona State has plenty of time to catch up to Oregon, the score could be the difference of the game. If the officials determined that Brown fumbled the ball before going into the end zone, the Ducks would have received the ball at the Arizona State 1-yard line because there was no immediate recovery by the Sun Devils.

While the argument could be made that Oregon would have scored in the next three or four plays anyway, taking away those chances for Arizona State to hold the Ducks to three points or even zero points could be the difference between a win and a loss. Arizona State is fighting to get back to .500 in the Pac-12 South Division while Oregon is looking for their first conference win.

Officiating in the Pac-12 has become somewhat of a joke in recent years among fans of the conference. This play will not help with that reputation.