ASU 21, Cal 20 (3rd Quarter)

I am sitting here, and I am stunned. The first half ended at 11:10, two hours and ten minutes after the opening kickoff.

Two run-and-shoot WAC teams, circa 1991, could not accomplish this.

And yes, incomplete passes will slow things down, but helping in no small way was the work of the usually brilliant Pac-10 officiating crew.

To sight one example:

Second quarter, minute to go, ASU punts. Deep in his own territory, Cal return man cathces it, starts to run, is hit, juggles the ball. Before he hits the ground, the back judge crosses his arms above his head, signaling "down," but--and you had to be there--does not blow his whistle.

Incredible. Thirty-two years of watching football, that's the first time I've seen anything like that.

To continue: the relevant players, who are all locked on the ball, do not see the back judge's motion, so the scrum on the field continues.

Result: ASU's ball, inside the 15.

Okay: review. Was the return man down?

Long about now, the the play-by-play man says, for about the third time, "Umm, I didn't hear a whistle back there."

Official's Conference.

Head set for the ref.

More conference.

Back to the head set.

Conference.

Then finally, "There was no whistle, but the ball was signaled down."

Is there anything--anything--that can keep a Pac-10 official from looking like a 15 year-old umping his first Little League game?

Update: 24-20, Arizona State. Discussing the first half with Astro-Girl, in terms she would relate to, I said, "If this were a baseball game, you'd say Cal left too many men on base. They're letting the Sun Devils hang around at home, which is never smart."

Now, in the early part of the fourth, I wonder if . . .

Whoa. I was about to type, "I wonder if ASU isn't emulating Cal in the second half. No excuse for the offense to receive the gift of a Justin Tryon interception, repeatedly blow Cal off the line of scrimmage, move briskly down the field and wind up with no points."

Just as I started this thought, Robert James intercepts for ASU. And the Devils move briskly down the field.