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Thursday, September 28, 2000

The National Football League has it. NCAA college basketball has a form of it. Now, Illinois Coach Ron Turner is wondering why NCAA college football does not have some form of replay to overturn incorrect calls on the field.

Turner is upset because two calls late in the fourth quarter went against his team, and Michigan came from behind to score a 35-31 win. On the final miscue, Michigan running back Anthony Thomas appeared to fumble near the goal line, but officials incorrectly ruled the ground caused the fumble. Thomas scored on the next play with the less than 2:30 to go in the game.

"I would love to see it come in," Turner said. "And not because of what happened Saturday. If you would have asked me that question last week, I would have said the same thing. I think it can happen. Most of the games in Division I are on TV of some kind. And if it's not, there are cameras there. And I think the NCAA has a lot of money, and they could help out.

"Unfortunately, a lot of coaches, especially at certain schools, will fight it, so you probably won't see it happen. But it has helped the pro game, and I think it can help our game. They use it in college basketball. If a kid shoots a 3-point shot, and there's a question of whether his foot was on the line, they take points off the board or put them on. I'd love to see it happen."

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno seconds Turner's motion.

"I know what he's talking about. The pros seem to be able to live with replay. I think that should be looked at. I haven't been happy with the officiating the past two or three years. Some of that might be rectified with replay, I don't know."

The Big Ten issued a news release after the fact admitting the officials in the game made incorrect calls.

Michigan Coach Lloyd Carr appears to be one of the coaches against replay, and he did not approve of the Big Ten's statement.

"I have made my extreme displeasure known with the press release," Carr said. "I stand by my comments that the game was relatively well officiated."

On replay: "It would lengthen the game, which would not be a positive. Every college football program struggles to meet the needs of its students. We can use that money in much better ways than to spend it on electronic equipment needed for that."

Ohio State Coach John Cooper does not believe it is feasible, either.

"I don't think you'll see it happen. Maybe the Big Ten, SEC and Pac-10; maybe those schools could afford it, but there are a lot of schools out there struggling to even have college football programs. I just think you have to take the officiating as part of the game of college football."

Oops!

Northwestern Coach Randy Walker made a faux pas at a news conference Monday. Walker, whose team is a surprising 3-1 and is coming off a 47-44 win at Wisconsin, spoke about keeping focused and not worrying about how many victories his team has until after the season is over. Walker then paraphrased Kenny Rogers' hit song "The Gambler."

"You've got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em," Walker said. "And you don't count your money while you're sitting at the table. You wait until the dealing's done."

Then catching himself, Walker turned to the Northwestern sports information department officials and said, "I know that's not a good analogy at this school."

Northwestern's football and men's basketball teams had been involved in gambling and point-shaving scandals within the past four years.

Mason scolds Gophers

After Minnesota went 8-4 last season and went to a bowl game for the first time since 1986, the Gophers looked to be the up-and-coming team this season. But the Gophers are 2-2 after a 38-24 loss to Purdue. The other loss came against Ohio University of the Mid-American Conference.

After the loss to Purdue, Coach Glen Mason told his team: "We overachieved last year. We have underachieved this year. I plan to do something to change that."

Short snaps

Michigan State Coach Bobby Williams suspended junior walk-on cornerback Tai Brown for this week because Brown taunted Notre Dame Coach Bob Davie after the Spartans' 27-21 victory Saturday. A picture showing Brown jawing at Davie appeared on the front page of the South Bend Tribune. Brown had to write a letter of apology to Davie. ... Wisconsin quarterback Brooks Bollinger was sacked twice Saturday, bringing opponents' sack total to 13 through four games. In 12 games last season, Wisconsin quarterbacks were sacked 13 times. ... Iowa (0-4) has lost 12 in a row and 19 of its past 20.