Why Pac-12 officials are assigned to Mississippi State football home game vs Arizona
STARKVILLE — Despite the teams playing at Davis Wade Stadium, there will be a Pac-12 officiating crew on the field for Mississippi State football's Week 2 matchup against Arizona on Saturday.
Why? It's an agreement made when the teams scheduled a home-and-home series in May 2014, according to a contract obtained by the USA TODAY Network. The visiting team was given rights to choose the officiating assignment.
John Love is the head referee assigned for the matchup. Here's the rest of his crew:
Umpire: Matthew Jordan
Head line judge: Lawrence Doss
Line judge: Tim Messuri
Filed judge: Brent Baumann
Side judge: Gary Reed
Back judge: Corey Luxner
Center judge: Jason Grant
Replay official: Gary McNanna
Communicator: Jeffery Yock
Nonconference assignments come on a game-by-game basis.
For example, Tulane has a crew from the American Athletic Conference calling its home game against Ole Miss on Saturday. Alabama has an SEC crew assigned for its home game against Texas.
Ole Miss and Mississippi State are the lone SEC teams on Saturday playing in front of an out-of-conference officiating crew.
LEGENDARY COACH: How Mississippi State vs Arizona showcases Mike Leach's ability to identify top quarterback talent
Kyle Olson and his SEC crew officiated the MSU-Arizona game in Tucson. Mississippi State picked up a 39-17 win to improve to 2-0 en route to a nine-win season.
Stefan Krajisnik is the Mississippi State beat writer for the Clarion Ledger. Contact him at skrajisnik@gannett.com or follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @skrajisnik3.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Pac-12 officials assigned to Mississippi State football home game vs Arizona
