The Maryland Terrapins were left fuming Saturday thanks to a terrible non-call in their loss to the Purdue Boilermakers.
With 7:47 left in regulation, the Terps scored a touchdown to go up 23-17 on Purdue, with the extra point looming. That extra point was blocked, but the Purdue defender responsible for the block was quite clearly offsides before the snap. Despite this, no flag was thrown.
Purdue went down and scored to take a 24-23 lead, then added another touchdown after a Maryland punt. The Terrapins got the ball back one more time down 31-23 and scored a touchdown, but the game-tying two-point conversion was nullified by a penalty for illegal man downfield. The second conversion attempt was unsuccessful, and Maryland wound up losing by two.
After the game, coach Mike Locksley angrily pointed out that the blocked PAT had a major impact on the outcome, but the illegal man downfield flag did not.
It’s tough to blame Maryland for being angry with this one. Purdue was clearly offsides. Someone should have spotted it and called it, no questions asked.
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