Replay a hit
in college

THE Big Ten's experiment was a big hit last season. Now instant replay is all the rage in college football.

Eight more conferences and Notre Dame will join the Big Ten in using video to review certain officials' calls in 2005, and it will be used in all 28 bowl games.

Replay drew such positive reviews from the Big Ten, the NCAA gave all Division I-A conferences permission to give it a try. Just about all of them jumped on board.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big 12, Conference USA, Mid-American Conference, Mountain West Conference, Pac-10, and Southeastern Conference have all implemented an instant replay system at least similar to the Big Ten's.

And they all sought out Big Ten coordinator of officials David Parry and his staff, looking for advice.

"We're proud and happy about what we got off the ground in 2004," Parry said. "We've sent out a lot of mailings and we've been to a lot of meetings."

Only the Sun Belt and Western Athletic Conference are not using replay this season, but both are taking steps to do it next year.

Under the Big Ten's system, a technical adviser in the press box notifies officials on the field via pager if a play needs to be reviewed. Using video from the television feed, the adviser reviews the questionable call.

"Indisputable video evidence" is needed to overturn a call. Scoring plays, pass plays and number of players on the field are reviewable, but the majority of penalties, such as holding, pass interference and offside are not.

Replay was used in 28 of the 57 games involving Big Ten teams last season, according to the conference's stats. Forty-three calls were reviewed and 21 were overturned. Reviews took an average of 2 minutes and 39 seconds.

There were a few rough spots. The first weekend of the season, a Wisconsin game was delayed about five minutes to review the spot of a ball that changed by about a yard.

"We stopped for some plays that weren't worthy of being looked at," Parry said.

Officials were told to be more discriminant with reviews; Parry also advised officials to be more concise when announcing the results.

"We didn't want to get into elaborate detail, where the ref was talking too long," he said.

In the NFL, use of instant replay has been debated for years. It was first implemented in 1986. In 1991, owners voted to get rid of replay, which was bringing games to a grinding halt with lengthy reviews.

Replay was revived in the NFL after the 1998 season, this time placing the onus on coaches to stop play for reviews. The coaches' challenge has been in place since, but for the most part you won't see it in the college game -- much to the glee of college coaches.

"I like what we're doing in college," said South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who spent two years with the Washington Redskins. "It eliminates coaches worrying about do you challenge this one or that one.

"We've got the technology now to get it right. I think it's a smart move. You hate to lose a game because a referee missed the call, so if we can get it right, I think that's what we should do."

The Mountain West is the one conference letting coaches have a say on what gets reviewed.

The MWC's replay system allows for one challenge for each coach per half. If the play is overturned, the coach gets a second challenge for that half -- if not, a timeout is taken away. Coaches must have a timeout to challenge and cannot have more than two challenges per half.

"I think it's going to be a less intrusive, less visible element than people might think," said MWC deputy commissioner Bret Gilliland, who added that the leagues coaches approved using the challenge.

Otherwise, the MWC's system is basically the same as the Big Ten's.

In other conferences, coaches won't be completely without recourse if a bad call goes against them.

"As I have told the coaches as I go around, they can encourage us by taking a time out and turning and staring at the replay booth, and that might prompt us a little bit into action to take it a little bit farther," said Bobby Gaston, SEC coordinator of officials.

Conference USA decided to style its replay system after what the NFL does in the last two minutes of games. A technical adviser in the press box will decide which plays to review, but the referee will use an on-field monitor to review the play and make a decision.

The Big 12 will also use an on-field monitor to allow the referee to assist in the review when necessary.

A general concern about using replay is that it will lead to officials becoming passive, knowing a call can be overturned.

Parry said he didn't feel that was the case in the Big Ten last year, and Gaston has been on his officials to stay aggressive.

"I want them to continue officiating because we want as few stoppages as we can get," Gaston said. "So we're going to encourage them to see it, know it, and throw it."

From Parry's point of view, the greatest benefit of replay was the calming effect it had on the coaches, players and fans.

"They were not so fast to scream at refs of the field because they knew if a play was called wrong, it would get corrected upstairs," Parry said.

It also left officials feeling less stressed.

"They could leave the stadium Saturday night knowing the play was called correctly," he said.