REPORT: Big 12 Apologizes to Mike Gundy for Texas Touchdown Call

UPDATED, 2:34 p.m. PDT

The official Big 12 Conference Twitter account posted the following. We’ll update if the conference elaborates:

Mizell returned fire swiftly, and still no clarification from the conference on what was deemed inaccurate:

Gina Mizell of The Oklahoman reports Big 12 officials apologized to Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy for a blown Texas touchdown call late in Saturday’s 41-36 defeat of the Cowboys.

Sorry doesn’t put the delicious Triscuit crackers in my stomach, and it doesn’t remove an L from Oklahoma State’s conference loss column. Nearly 366 days (it was a leap year) from the moment of the Longhorns’ critical score, I wrote of handling situations badly bungled by referees. Saturday’s situation differs from the Syracuse-Toledo botched extra point goal, which was irrefutably blown. This becomes more of a judgment call predicated on the line judge’s assessment of the ball breaking the plane on Joe Bergeron’s rush. His assessment is confirmed — or at least, not invalidated — in the replay booth.

And, as Mizell notes in her report, “Mike Pereira said during the game broadcast that because officials ruled the play a touchdown, an OSU player would have needed to clearly recover the ball before the scrum for the call to be overturned by replay.”

There’s been a lot of attention brought on officials in recent weeks, courtesy of the NFL owners’ locking out of professional referees. The decision at the conclusion of Monday Night Football, which gave Seattle a win over Green Bay, sparked days of ad nauseum discussion, and may have played a significant role in the lockout’s end. It also incited plenty of vitriol for a group already maligned among sports fans. Replacement referees were easy targets, characterized throughout their short stint overseeing the NFL as inept. The above is a reminder that even the regulars who oversee crucial, major Div. I football games are themselves, imperfect.

But what I find surprising is the NFL was quick to publicly defend the replacements, whereas the Big 12 offers an apology that negates the decision of one of its full-timers — particularly interesting in a play so vital to the outcome. What consolation does an aplogy provide?