Horrendous Spot In Penn State-West Virginia Game Leaves College Football World Speechless

Week one of the college football season can be difficult for teams and coaches trying to get into a rhythm.

It can also, apparently, be a difficult one for officials who are attempting to get into the swing of things as well.

Take, for example, this spot from Penn State‘s week one game against West Virginia in one of the noon window’s marquee games

West Virginia trailed 13-3 late in the first half facing 4th-and-1 from the Penn State 30. Quarterback Garrett Greene handed the ball off to CJ Donaldson Jr., who appeared to get wrapped up well short of the line to gain.

Instead, officials gave Donaldson the first down before opting to review the play.

They then came back after the review and somehow confirmed the first down call. West Virginia went on to kick a field goal to cut the lead to 13-6.

Overturning a spot is undeniably difficult. There is typically a mass of very large bodies around the ball and it’s difficult to see exactly when the runner hits the ground. But this particular instance was not difficult, and nobody watching the game could believe it didn’t get overturned.

Even West Virginia fans were shocked!

But as everybody knows, ball don’t lie. Penn State got the ball back with just over 30 seconds remaining. After one quick run for little gain, they opted to air it deep. Quarterback Drew Allar hit wideout Omari Evans for a huge game into the West Virginia red zone.

Then, with likely one play left before Penn State would be forced to attempt a field goal, Allar dropped one in the bucket to Tre Wallace for a touchdown to make the score 20-6 at the half.

The entire sequence was everything that we love and hate about college football condensed into a five-minute span.