Fortunately, the brutal penalty did not affect the result

If you watched college football at all in 2024, you almost certainly saw a national problem at some point.

College football officiating is brutal across the board.

I don’t think the officials are going to help one team win (except maybe the ACC teams with Miami), but overall they just aren’t very good.

And it showed again in Saturday’s blowout win over Navy at Notre Dame. Luckily, the most egregious call of the day had no impact on the final result, but it was still more than bad nonetheless.

Notre Dame vs. Navy’s botched decision in question

Notre Dame led Naval Academy 44-14 late in the third quarter when Kingston freshman sensation Viliamu-Asa got to quarterback Blake Horvath to force a fumble. The loose ball was recovered by Notre Dame’s Riley Mills, and it looked like the Irish were knocking on the door for another goal.

However, a flag was thrown for roughing the passer on a play in which Viliamu-Asa had literally just tackled the quarterback. Watch the reactions of announcers Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy below.

Brief review by Nick Szepkowski:

I’m all for protecting the quarterback from unnecessary, borderline offensive hits. There is no place for this in the game, and keeping your star defenders healthy is good for the game as a whole, which is easy to understand.

However, the rude call to Viliam-Asa was laughable. As McDonough and McElroy point out, what the hell should he do? He tries to handball the ball first and then follows through and sacks the defender by landing on him.

He did not throw Horvath to the ground or use excessive force to succeed. He just landed on the guy.

The biggest problem with officiating college football is that different conferences teach you to call things differently. What may be considered a flag in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not a flag in the Big Ten or Big 12. What the ACC considers a violation is not considered a violation based on how it is taught to officials in another conference.

As long as this is the case, we will continue to see a decline in the efficiency of officials.

Why can’t umpires spot the ball with any accuracy across all sports? To which I have no answer or understanding.

Instant takeaway: Notre Dame dominates Navy 51-14

Viral moment: ESPN fumbled Notre Dame coach’s name on air

See who’s picked for ESPN College GameDay vs. Notre Dame vs. Navy