Internet Erupts Claiming Virginia Tech’s ‘Missed’ Field Goal vs. Pitt Actually Went In
· Yahoo Sports
The Virginia Tech Hokies officially lost to Pitt on Friday night. A growing number of college football fans aren’t convinced they should have.
Virginia Tech kicker John Love attempted a 36-yard field goal with three seconds remaining that would have given the Hokies a 36-35 victory. Instead, the kick was ruled no good, allowing Pitt to escape Lane Stadium with a dramatic 35-33 win. Almost immediately, replays of the kick began spreading across social media as fans questioned whether the football actually traveled inside the left upright.
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“Seriously, how is that not good?!” one X user wrote while questioning the controversial finish. “Crazy how that’s declared a missed kick.”
The reaction isn’t being fueled by social media alone. Sports Illustrated highlighted slow-motion video of the final kick and noted that it raised questions about whether Love’s attempt actually slipped inside the upright.
Virginia Tech-Pitt Ending Creates Massive Debate
“My only guess as to why it was no good was that the ball must have gone directly over the upright and, therefore, would have hit it if the upright extended further,” another X user wrote.
That possibility is crucial to understanding the ruling. A successful field goal must travel between the uprights, and when the football travels above them, officials effectively have to judge whether it remained inside their imaginary vertical extension.
Another X user pointed directly to that distinction while defending the call, arguing that Love’s kick appeared to travel over the top of the post rather than completely inside it.
There is another wrinkle that makes the controversy even more frustrating for Virginia Tech fans. NCAA replay rules state that when a field goal travels higher than the top of the uprights, whether it passed inside or outside them is not reviewable. That means there isn’t necessarily a replay angle that could have simply reversed the ruling on the field.
That’s what separates a legitimate officiating debate from definitively saying Virginia Tech was robbed. The television angle makes the kick look incredibly close. Fans can watch the same replay and reach completely different conclusions, but the officials underneath the goal posts ruled it no good. Pitt therefore officially won the game 35-33.
The result isn’t changing. The conversation surrounding it probably isn’t going anywhere, either. If anything comes from this wild ending, perhaps college football will eventually find a better way to determine whether kicks traveling above the uprights are actually good. Until then, Pitt has the win. Virginia Tech fans have one replay they might be arguing about for years.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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