In the 1st half of the Florida-USM game, a Florida receiver catches the ball, runs down the field, and is tackled by USM. There's a 5-yard incidental facemask penalty applied. Then, there's a review from the booth, and they say that the receiver stepped out of bounds before being tackled (and before the facemask). So, now instead of a 5-yard facemask, it's now a 15-yard dead ball penalty because the guy had stepped out of bounds. Did anyone else see this and think this was wrong? I had figured that the play was dead as soon as they determined the guy stepped out, so there should be no penalty applied. Otherwise, the tackle itself could have been considered a late hit.
Wow! I think that's B.S. and I would be interested in finding clarification on that by a rules committee (if available).
That's why it changed to a 15 yard penalty, because it occured after the play was dead. I think its BS because both players were under te impression the play was still "live". IMO the 5 yarder should have still been applied, because it was incedental and before the wistle was blown.
If the play had to be reviewed for them to determine the ballcarrier went out of bounds, I assume the refs didn't whistle him down. So how can you expect the defensive player to recognize that the play was over and flag him for a late hit. Very bad call.
