Scott Satterfield Calling For More Consistency From Officiating
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - After each week of games in the Atlantic Coast Conference, all 14 programs have the ability to send in plays to the league offices regarding their officiating, and they will in turn receive feedback. The way that Louisville head coach Scott Satterfield uses this system, is so he can relay to his players how they should go about playing more mistake free football.
Judging by the way that Saturday's game against Wake Forest was called, it wouldn't have been surprising if he had sent in the entire game film. While Louisville committed plenty of their own mistakes that led to their 37-34 defeat to the hands of the Demon Deacons, the officiating from the contest certainly played a significant role.
Immediately following the contest, the third year head coach of the Cardinals had plenty of questions regarding the job by the game's officiating crew. Two days later during his weekly press conference, and after some time in the film room to view the plays in question himself, Satterfield is simply wanting a more consistent effort on that front.
"The biggest thing that I've always wanted as a coach is just consistency in officiating. That's all we ever want," he said. "If we're gonna let the kids play, then let them play. Let everybody play, and not pick and choose when you're going to call fouls.
"I do know it's a tough task for those officials. But the common sense (penalties), if they don't get those right, then everybody's got a problem with those. That's some of the things that that come into play."
During the contest, there were several calls and sequences that Louisville did not agree to. Isaac Martin was called for a block in the back on a play where his hands were up in the air, Marvin Dallas was flagged for fair catch interference after seemingly not touching the Wake Forest punt returner, and the Cardinals were called for holding five times.
But the two more controversial moments came during the second quarter. Midway through the period, quarterback Malik Cunningham had his helmet popped off during a second down play. Louisville burned a timeout with the hopes of bringing him back in for the crucial 3rd and 3, but was told by the officials he was not allowed in for the play.
Later in the quarter was perhaps one of the bigger difference makers in the game. With the scored tied at 17, and Wake Forest just one yard away with four seconds left in the half, they opted to run right ahead and were stopped. But instead of both teams heading into the locker room, the Demon Deacons were granted a timeout with one second remaining, which set up a Nick Sciba field goal.
In a statement by the ACC acquired from ESPN's Andrea Adelson, Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson had "told the official on his side that he was going to call timeout as soon as they play ended", and that the runner was down with two seconds left on the clock. But according to video on the sideline, the runner was not down and the play was not blown dead until the half should have been over.
"As a coach - and we've seen this over the years in college football - you get the ball inside the three or four yard line, and the time is down to three or four seconds left, you got to make a decision. Do I want to run a play? And if I do run this play, I'm willing to risk the fact that I won't get another play."
But as bothered as Satterfield was from the officiating in the game, he is still preaching that his team has to move on from it. In fact, he did not send in any plays to the league offices from that games, saying that the film "speaks for itself".
"It is frustrating at times, obviously, and we're all human. That creeps in, and we have to guard against it," he said. "That doesn't do us any good. You get frustrated, you get upset, and then you can't play the next play."
Louisville will be back in action next weekend, when they will return home to host Virginia at Cardinal Stadium. Kickoff against the Cavaliers is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 9 at 3:00 p.m. EST.
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