Those who watched the game saw the play and definitely said that Lafayette got screwed. It was a game changing call and had it been called correctly the outcome could have been very different.
Sunday morning, Tavani got a call. Interference should have been called, he was told. The official blew it. He would be disciplined.
The consolation call changes nothing. The Leopards will not go back and replay the series from the spot of the infraction.
"It was a tough pill to swallon, but it's like anything in the game," Tavani said. "That one play didn't wion or lose it. It's critical, and one that leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth, but you can't dwell on it."
Tavani said the guy who first called him Sunday was "pretty distraught about it. Then I did receive and actual ruling that, yes, indeed, there was clearly a foul that was not called and they had blown it and that he had called Carolyn (Schlle Femovitch, the Patriot League executive director). That said, like any other mistake, guys get paid to do a job, they didn't do it and there are consequences. Jim Maconaghy does a great job and I wouldn't want anyone else assigning officials. He's great to work with. All the coaches in the league have some complaints. He evaluates them and gets back to you. It ios what it is. We're past that.
I watched part of the game and saw the play in question. The defender face guarded the receiver and then ran into him before the ball arrived. The ref was right there and the whole thing happened in front of him, I couldn't believe that there was no flag.
If the penalty had been called, Lafayette would have had a first down around the 20 yard line with about 4 minutes left. A field goal would have given them a 29-28 lead.
That play hurt Liberty's resume, as well. This sucks, sorry for the Pards, except for that one really annoying Lafayette fan on AGS... but to the good guys, I'm sorry.
