The Refs Cheated and the Zips Play Dirty? Or Sour Grapes?

[K-Roo]

I have completely lost all respect for JMU. Was at the the game. Anybody else notice no handshake after the game? Bush League. And the coach was screaming and crying to the refs all nite. Cops had to escort the refs into the locker room at halftime.

So you feel you didn't get a couple of calls. Deal with it like a man. Akron NEVER gets calls. Even at home with MAC Refs. If the calls were made against you, then they are probably real. If your guys lost their cool cuz our guys did something... too bad. Refs always see the response not the first foul. As a coach with 15 yrs at JMU, you should know that. That has always been, and will always be, part of the game.

JMU is a self-absorbed program run by a jerk who feels he is entitled to win on reputation only. Here is more:

Time Runs out on JMU

Matthews (HC)“You stop the clock at the end of the game,” JMU coach Mickey Matthews, still fuming, said outside the Dukes’ locker room. “That’s what I was mad about. His forward progress was stopped with about nine seconds left.”

But the clock didn’t stop. Harvey went over the middle and caught a pass that was close to being a first down at the Akron 27-yard line. The senior made the catch with roughly 10 seconds left in the game, but the referees never got the ball set — the Akron players also were in no rush to line up — and the game clock expired, perhaps costing the Division I-AA Dukes (1-1) what could have been their fifth-ever win over a I-A opponent and first since 2010 when they beat Virginia Tech.

Answer -- no you don't.. unless he gets the first down.. and he was still struggling forward. Idiot. Look at the film. Translation: "We r JMU and they are sucky Akron. I mean we should get all the help we need to win." :cry:

Birdsong (QB): "This is the way it goes. [i-A] teams are supposed to beat [i-AA] teams. We should have come here with that mindset. The refs weren’t going to be on our side. We should have known that from the get-go.” :cry:

Answer: You shoudn't have made that throw -- spike the ball.

Scott (RB): "“We got another team [saint Francis] next week and practice this week — just fix everything,” said Scott, who had 107 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. “I know I had a late penalty at the end of the game when they were actually choking me. But, I mean, it’s no excuse.”

Answer: on ESPN3, I can't see a choke but I do see the punch you threw.

Cheap Shot from the reporter: The end of the game sent Matthews into a rage. The 15th-year coach chased the referees for almost half the field at what looked like a sparsely filled InfoCision Stadium. The official attendance was 19,653.

20,000 in a 27k stadium. prob not -- but tickets sold and the grassy knoll was filled. put them in the stands and the stadium looks a lot fuller.

Final Thought: You lost the game on the field. Grow up. Man up. You wasted time outs. You threw a pass short of the 1st down- down the middle of the field with under 20 seconds to go. Deal with it. Take your check and go home.

Oh and when you ask the MAC to admit you for IA next time. Sorry but we are full. NO ROOM. MOVE ON.

[lance99]

But the clock didn’t stop. Harvey went over the middle and caught a pass that was close to being a first down at the Akron 27-yard line. The senior made the catch with roughly 10 seconds left in the game, but the referees never got the ball set — the Akron players also were in no rush to line up — and the game clock expired, perhaps costing the Division I-AA Dukes (1-1) what could have been their fifth-ever win over a I-A opponent and first since 2010 when they beat Virginia Tech.

Answer -- no you don't.. unless he gets the first down.. and he was still struggling forward. Idiot. Look at the film. Translation: "We r JMU and they are sucky Akron. I mean we should get all the help we need to win." :cry:

Of course they were in no hurry to line up. You are taught that at every level!

[ksu sucks]

Obviously sour grapes. I don't think any less of their program though. Imagine if we were that close to beating a crappy BCS team. There would be a lot of people on these forums making the same moronic complaints. It's part of the game. This is the same situation on a different level.

Go zips!

[Spin]

I didn't know they had to wait for the Zips to line up before running a play...

[Spin]

Cheap Shot from the reporter: The end of the game sent Matthews into a rage. The 15th-year coach chased the referees for almost half the field at what looked like a sparsely filled InfoCision Stadium. The official attendance was 19,653.

20,000 in a 27k stadium. prob not -- but tickets sold and the grassy knoll was filled. put them in the stands and the stadium looks a lot fuller.

The seats did look empty during the rain shower. If you didn't have enough sense to look at the packed concourse.

[GoZips]

I didn't know they had to wait for the Zips to line up before running a play...

They don't. Coach Matthews needs to control his temper. JMU wasted time outs and other opportunities. It is a common issue.

Did not see the JMU coach complaining about the several times the officials stiffed or nearly stiffed the Zips. Particularly

the first down that they attempted to revert to a fourth and one. It took a lot of yelling from the Akron sideline to get a review

which resulted in a correct spot two yards further up field and a first down. Where was coach Matthews on that one?

What I liked about the game was the difference in attitude. Last year the Zips folded when they got behind. Not this year.

Down thirteen nil and having not run an offensive play the Zips out fought, out muscled and out willed upset minded JMU.

I think the Zips just might have grown up; sigh, finally.

[Dave in Green]

As far as I could tell through my binoculars, the officiating crew did not have MAC patches on their uniforms. I'm guessing they were from the CAA. If anyone knows for sure, please speak up. All I know is that the JMU coaches and players seemed to be familiar with the refs and had lots of back and forth conversations throughout the game whereas the Zips did not.

As for the fairness of the officiating, it appeared throughout the game that JMU was getting generous spots and the Zips were getting shorted. When it got too obvious and there was a protest, the on-field officials were overruled in favor of a legitimate call in the Zips' favor.

On the final play, JMU obviously should have saved a final timeout for a field goal. But they didn't. That's on them. They could have still recovered. The running back was close to a first down, and was fighting for it but being pushed backward. The refs could have blown the whistle at that point. But JMU players joined in to try to push him forward. The smart thing would have been for the running back to deliberately fall down. In that case, they would have had time to spike the ball and get a field goal attempt.

Bottom line to me was that this was a focal point of the JMU season, and they had a great game plan that almost succeeded. The officiating was not a major factor in them losing.

[MDZip]

The names of the officiating crew were published on GoZips.com:

Referee: Greg Blum

Umpire: Ed Feaster

Head Linesman: Chris Garner

Line Judge: Jeff Meslow

Back Judge: Reginald Berry

Field Judge: John Masterson

Side Judge: Grady Smith

Have not found a way to find if they have any conference affiliation.

[Dave in Green]

I'm not sure exactly how college football officials are affiliated with conferences. There's some information on the website for College Football Officiating (CFO), LLC. I just ran some quick searches on those individual officials, and they mostly show up on crews for FCS games. Some of them also show up in a few games involving MAC teams.

[fluidian]

JMU shot itself in the foot with horrible timeout management and a very poor play call on the pass over the middle. That said, Akron needed a ton of breaks, a fluke play, and being on the side of some questionable officiating to beat a non-playoff FCS team, at home. I wouldn't get too excited. Look at the box score, JMU dominated play. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=332502006

The TD on the free offsides play was fine, but it was a coin flip call. I've seen WRs do a lot less pushing off and get flagged.

JMU was flagged for two personal fouls that were retaliation for Akron's post whistle activities. Second guy gets caught and that's unfortunate. Would be nice though if the refs kept a closer eye on dirtier players like Akron's left tackle who was instigating all night.

The pivotal bad call, and the one that set Mickey off was at the end of the first half. The RB was held up for a long time before the ball popped out. 99.9% of the time, the whistle has blown by that time. That slow whistle turned the game from a score and momentum perspective. Kudos to Akron's D for stripping the ball, but that instance of poor officiating was the turning point.

Akron got a lot of breaks, and in a close game, the team who gets the most breaks tends to win. But if the calls fall more 50/50, JMU wins that one walking away. At the end of the day, a loss to a FBS opponent won't hurt the Dukes. And Akron gets at least one win this year.

[Dr Z]

I wouldn't get too excited.

We haven't won much recently, if we don't get excited when we win, when can we? Good luck the rest of the season, hope all the calls go your way from now on.

PS These are the types of threads I think about during basketball season when the same Zip fans complain about the refs. Reads bad, doesn't it?

[Dave in Green]

Both sides can always find something to complain about when it comes to officiating, not that it does any good. Fans are generally more sensitive to what they see as bad calls against their team while overlooking similar calls against the other team. It's always more painful for the losing side in a close game where any number of things could have made the difference.

[UA1987]

JMU shot itself in the foot with horrible timeout management and a very poor play call on the pass over the middle. That said, Akron needed a ton of breaks, a fluke play, and being on the side of some questionable officiating to beat a non-playoff FCS team, at home. I wouldn't get too excited. Look at the box score, JMU dominated play. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=332502006

The TD on the free offsides play was fine, but it was a coin flip call. I've seen WRs do a lot less pushing off and get flagged.

JMU was flagged for two personal fouls that were retaliation for Akron's post whistle activities. Second guy gets caught and that's unfortunate. Would be nice though if the refs kept a closer eye on dirtier players like Akron's left tackle who was instigating all night.

The pivotal bad call, and the one that set Mickey off was at the end of the first half. The RB was held up for a long time before the ball popped out. 99.9% of the time, the whistle has blown by that time. That slow whistle turned the game from a score and momentum perspective. Kudos to Akron's D for stripping the ball, but that instance of poor officiating was the turning point.

Akron got a lot of breaks, and in a close game, the team who gets the most breaks tends to win. But if the calls fall more 50/50, JMU wins that one walking away. At the end of the day, a loss to a FBS opponent won't hurt the Dukes. And Akron gets at least one win this year.

You have no idea what was being said or done in the trenches so back away. Our left tackle is a Senior and no one has ever accused him of anything till you came on here with your complaints. It was a very good game with breaks and calls on both sides. JMU played their hearts out but Akron had the guts to come back from that horrible beginning to win. We'll take it and so will you.

[Zipmeister]

Both sides can always find something to complain about when it comes to officiating, not that it does any good. Fans are generally more sensitive to what they see as bad calls against their team while overlooking similar calls against the other team. It's always more painful for the losing side in a close game where any number of things could have made the difference.

What Dave is trying to say is jmu SUCKS.

[a-zip]

What Dave is trying to say is jmu SUCKS.

I saw JMU coach Mickey's post game interview and he said after his player was tackled in bounds (not achieving a first down) that the referees should have stopped the clock.

“They should’ve stopped the clock at the end of the game,” Matthews said. “Forward progress had stopped with about nine seconds left. Akron did a great job, they were in no hurry to get lined up for the last play. That’s why I was upset with the officials, they kind of stood there and let the clock run out.”

[zippyfan34]

Let's hope for JMU's sake that the same football refs don't officiate the golf outing where the Zips are going to come from 7 shots down to beat them tomorrow!

[zippyfan34]

Let's hope for JMU's sake that the same football refs don't officiate the golf outing where the Zips are going to come from 7 shots down to beat them tomorrow!

And the Zips come from behind to beat JMU and the field. JMU coach accuses Zips golfers of choking a JMU player when he was in the woods looking for his golf ball causing him to have a snowman on a hole.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Poom Pattaropong is our bitch.