Replay for the MAC coming

[Dr Z]

MAC to implement replay for football

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Replay is here to stay in Division I college football, and that includes the Mid-American Conference. One season after the Big Ten experimented successfully with instant replay, nine of 11 Division I-A conferences will utilize replay to review decisions.

On the first day of MAC Football Media Days in Detroit, assistant commissioner Bob Gennarelli said he expects by next season that replay will be a NCAA rule, not just an option.

"We're going to follow the Big Ten prototype to the letter," Gennarelli said. For non-TV games, the MAC will provide a video crew to produce replays, according to the Star Press of Muncie, Ind. Each MAC school will pay between $12,000 and $14,000 to cover the cost of crews at non-televised games, plus install equipment for a replay booth in the press box at a cost of about $3,000, the paper reported.

There are 11 calls that can't be reviewed by replay, including holding, pass interference, personal fouls, face mask or roughing the passer or punter.

There will be no charged timeouts on replays, and all replays will be generated by an official in the booth. Last season in the Big Ten there were 21 plays overturned out of 43 reviewed, with an average time of 2:39 before a decision was made.

"We've got a great road map with what the Big Ten did," Gennarelli said. "This is going to give us the ability to make sure we get things right."

Bowl-ing:

MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst said the league continues to pursue another postseason bowl game to go with the two tie-ins with the Motor City Bowl in Detroit and the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

"We continue to work on a permanent third spot," Chryst said. "We continue to work hard to build a game in Toronto."

Privately, MAC officials indicate this should come to fruition by next spring, with the Big East as a bowl partner.

Face time:

The MAC is scheduled to have 34 football games on TV this season, with ESPN showing most of those games on its family of networks.

"Everybody likes to talk about the best-kept secret," said Dan Shoemaker, vice president of ESPN Regional.

"The MAC can compete. The MAC, from their institutions to their coaches to the players on the field, have given us tremendous national stories. That's the reason the league has become a national fixture. Fortunately for us we've been able to chronicle a lot of this."

[Wally B]

Face time:

The MAC is scheduled to have 34 football games on TV this season, with ESPN showing most of those games on its family of networks.

"Everybody likes to talk about the best-kept secret," said Dan Shoemaker, vice president of ESPN Regional.

"The MAC can compete. The MAC, from their institutions to their coaches to the players on the field, have given us tremendous national stories. That's the reason the league has become a national fixture. Fortunately for us we've been able to chronicle a lot of this."