Report: ACC Tells Pitt Slide Ruling Was Correct
PITTSBURGH -- The Pitt Panthers were not happy with how the officials spotted a crucial play in their loss to Wake Forest this past week and made sure they knew as much.
According to a report from Jerry DiPaola of Trib Total Media, Pitt lodged a formal complaint with the ACC over how Christian Veilleux's fateful slide in last week's loss to Wake Forest was ruled and the league responded with a defense of the call and the officials.
The Panthers were leading by three and had the ball on their own nine-yard line, facing a third down and eight with 45 seconds remaining. They looked well on their way to icing the game when Veilleux sprinted unimpeded for the first down marker.
He slid to stay in bounds and keep the game clock moving, but officials ruled that he began his slide short of the line to gain. The Panthers faced down and short deep in their own territory instead and that's where things really started to unravel. A shanked punt was followed by a quick, stunning, game-winning touchdown drive from Santino Marucci, the Demon Deacons' third-string quarterback, and a failed hail mary attempt by Pitt.
Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said this week that he hoped the ACC and other college football officials review the slide rule.
"First of all, the slide rule is to protect the quarterback," Narduzzi said. "Protect the quarterback who’s trying to protect himself. It’s not for an official to determine when he started his slide and all that stuff and it would have been nice if the official would go and look in a little TV there and go ‘Okay, let’s be sensible here.'"
The irony of it all is that it was a now legendary Pitt quarterback's scramble against Wake Forest - Kenny Pickett's long "Fake Slide" rush for the opening touchdown of the 2021 ACC Championship Game - that forced college football officials to rethink how they judged slides. Two years later, it costs the Panthers in a big spot.
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