Pittsburgh quarterback Nate Yarnell was hit in the face by a vicious uppercut from Clemson linebacker Dee Crayton during Saturday’s electric college football game between two two-loss programs vying for an automatic bid to the Playoff as conference champions. ACC officials completely missed the extremely obvious penalty and failed to throw a flag.
They changed their minds after getting bullied by the Panthers into making the correct call!
The unusual sequence of events took place during the fourth quarter of a tie game. Yarnell lined up in the shotgun on 2nd-and-9 from his own 46-yard-line and looked to pass. Crayton broke into the Pittsburgh backfield as the redshirt junior looked to pass. He was forced to tuck the ball and take the sack.
However, Crayton made direct contact to the head of Nate Yarnell while wrapping him for a loss of three. It was a firm open-hand punch directly to the bottom of his helmet that was so obvious it could’ve been seen from outer space.
And yet, the ACC officiating crew completely missed it. They did not throw a flag.
As could be expected, the Panthers were furious with the lack of penalty. Head coach Pat Narduzzi flipped out on the officials. Fans at Heinz Field Acrisure Stadium lost their collective mind when the jumbotron showed the replay— and rightfully so. It was an astonishing miss.
No idea how officials missed this blow to the head on the Pitt QB but after a huddle (and big screen replays) they called it pic.twitter.com/b2ugxtOAhE
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 16, 2024
ACC officials gathered at midfield while boos rained down from the crowd. They conferred for approximately five minutes while the replay played on a loop.
In the end, it was determined that Crayton actually did commit a penalty. Shocker! He was called for a 15-yard personal foul that resulted in an automatic first down.
This is not the first time this season that a negative crowd reaction resulted in an overturned decision. Texas fans bullied SEC officials out of a massive pass interference call against Georgia by throwing trash onto the field and forcing a delay. Pittsburgh fans got their way without the trash!