Flag turns ecstacy to agony
Posted on Sunday, October 26, 2008
FAYETTEVILLE — London Crawford went from an unbelievable high to an unthinkable low Saturday night at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, all in a span of seconds.
Crawford’s apparent 32-yard reception in the final minute of Arkansas’ 23-21 loss to Ole Miss would’ve put the Razorbacks in position to pull out a dramatic comeback victory. Instead, Crawford was flagged for offensive pass interference against Rebels cornerback Marshay Green.
Arkansas was then unable to overcome a second-and-25 situation, throwing three consecutive incomplete passes, and Ole Miss ran out the final 23 seconds to secure the victory. Crawford was near-distraught as he left the field after the game, and wasn’t available for interviews.
Center Jonathan Luigs said Crawford remained upset in the locker room, and called his catch “something you dream about as a kid.”
“He made that play, and to have that taken away from him is tough,” Luigs said. “He really wanted it for himself and this team.”
Arkansas Coach B obby Petrino said Crawford was isolated against Green and ran a “go” route as quarterback Casey Dick dropped back, hung in the pocket, then delivered a higharcing pass down the sideline. Depending on your perspective, Crawford either pushed Green to get to the ball, or was simply involved in routine jockeying for position.
Petrino was animated in his protest of the call on the field, but tempered his words afterward.
“You know how this world is,” Petrino said. “There’s a thing called Freedom of Speech unless you’re a football coach talking about officials. Really, that’s all I can say, because if I said what I really would like to say, then I would get in trouble.”
Petrino did say he had a clear view of the play.
“I was watching him all the way, I thought he did a great job of elevating, going up, catching the ball in two hands,” Petrino said.
Offensive coordinator Paul Petrino, who works from the coaches’ booth in the press box, was asked what he saw from his vantage point.
“Probably the same thing you saw from your vantage point.... It was a pretty obvious one,” he said.
“Unfortunately, it was seen different by one person than everyone else.”
Petrino presumably was speakng about the official who made the call, but at least one other person agreed with the penalty,
“I saw London push off,” Ole Miss Coach Houston Nutt said. “That was pretty clear. I was hoping that was what they would call.”
The penalty capped another frustrating outing for the Arkansas offense, which got stellar performances from tailback Michael Smith (19 rushes, 129 yards, 1 touchdown ) and tight end D. J. Williams (10 catches, 129 yards ), but more often sputtered against a physical Rebels defense. The Razorbacks had six consecutive drives spanning parts of the second, third and fourth quarters ended either in a punt or turnover.
There also a handful of nearmisses, most notably a third-and-1 pass from Dick to freshman receiver Chris Gragg reminiscent of the “Cowboy Get It” that keyed a comeback victory over Louisiana-Monroe earlier in the season. This time, Paul Petrino said Gragg appeared to misjudge the ball in the air before pulling in his hands a split-second too early.
The result was an imcompletion that killed a promising drive when Arkansas trailed just 13-7 late in the third quarter.
“It was close, but not quite there,” Bobby Petrino said.
Just like Crawford’s would-be big play.
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