Notre Dame vs. Navy’s Horrific Penalty Call – Here’s the Breakdown

It didn't matter in the end result but there was a brutal call that went against Notre Dame

Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrate after the game against the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

If you've watched college football at all in 2024 you've almost undoubtedly seen nationwide issue on display at some point.

College football officiating is brutal across the board.

I don't think officials have it in mind to try and help one team win (except maybe ACC crews with Miami) but that they are instead just not great overall.

And it showed again in Saturday's Notre Dame blowout win over Navy. Fortunately the most egregous call of the day didn't really have any impact on the final outcome, but it was beyond bad nonetheless.

Notre Dame vs. Navy Poor Call in Question

Notre Dame was leading the Naval Academy 44-14 late in the third quarter when freshman sensation Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa got to quarterback Blake Horvath to force a fumble. The loose ball was recovered by Notre Dame's Riley Mills and it appeared the Irish were knocking on the door of another score.

However, a flag was thrown for roughing the passer on a play that Viliamu-Asa literally just tackled the quarterback. Check it out below with the reaction from announcers Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy.

"What's he supposed to do? What is he supposed to do there?"

"I really don't know. I think it's ridiculous."

"It is ridiculous. It's football. It's absurd."

Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy after a roughing the passer penalty negates a turnover for Notre Dame against Navy. pic.twitter.com/nQQseFQG7J

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 26, 2024

Nick Shepkowski's Quick Take:

I'm all for protecting the quarterback against needless, borderline abusive hits. There is no place in the game for that and keeping star quarterbacks healthy is good for the game overall, that's easy to understand.

The roughing call on Viliamu-Asa was laughable, though. As McDonough and McElroy point out - what on Earth is he supposed to do? He's trying to play the ball with his hand initially and then follows through and sacks the quarterback, landing on him.

He didn't throw Horvath to the ground or use any kind of excessive force to make the play. He simply landed on the guy.

The biggest problem college football officiating has is that things are taught to be called differently in different conferences. What might constitute a flag in the SEC doesn't in the Big Ten or Big 12. What the ACC deems a foul isn't seen as one by the way it's taught to officials in a different conference.

As long as that's the case we're going to continue to see a diminishing performance by officials.

Now why can't officials seem to spot the ball with any accuracy across the sport? That I have no answer or understanding for.

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