Arkansas State narrowly escaped an embarrassing upset loss at home during its college football season-opener on Saturday. However, Central Arkansas would argue that the game-winning touchdown catch was actually incomplete.
Video replay overturned the initial call on the field to give the Red Wolves a win they may or may not have deserved.
It is yet another classic debate of “what is a catch?” and the answer remains entirely subjective. Every officiating crew has a different interpretation. The one in Jonesboro might be more lenient than most.
Central Arkansas, an FCS program, scored a touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter to go up by four. Arkansas State got the ball back, down 31-27, with 55 seconds.
Sophomore quarterback Jaylen Raynor led a methodical six-play, 63-yard drive to set up 1st-and-goal at the seven-yard-line. The Red Wolves were out of timeouts. They had just three seconds to pull out a win.
Raynor took the snap, dropped back, and threw a jump ball to his star wide receiver. Corey Rucker went up to make the grab.
Even though he came down with the ball, the nearby official ruled it as incomplete.
On the final play from scrimmage, Jaylen Raynor connected with Corey Rucker for a game-winning TD.
— Jack Allen KATV (@JackAllenTV) September 1, 2024
The question: Was it actually a catch??
Judge for yourself. #FCS #UCA #AState pic.twitter.com/qEPonVi9ZQ
The call on the field was overturned upon further review. Rucker was deemed to have possession when he tapped his right foot down in the end zone and Arkansas State won the game 34-31.
But was it a catch? You can be the judge…
Here is a picture of the play captured by the Red Wolves:
Here is another look from the back angle, as captured by Todd Garner:
It is not a question of whether Rucker got his foot down. He did. The controversy lies with possession.
Rucker may not have had control of the football when his foot tapped the turf.
One group of college football officials might rule that he secured the catch before he fell out of bounds. Another might see it as a bobble.
Regardless of the hypotheticals, it was ruled a touchdown and the Red Wolves escaped at 1-0!