Go back to the game film — officials lost control

CORVALLIS, Ore. — The wildest game of this, or any other, Pac-10 football season was a day old Sunday, excusing itself to the Internet message boards and e-mail campaigns.

Washington fans were outraged for what they think to be an illegal hit on their prized quarterback. Oregon State faithful allege they're nuts and that the Huskies used that misconception to ramp up the evening's misdeeds in OSU's 29-23 victory.

Sunday, Dave Cutaia, first-year supervisor of officials at the Pac-10, made it plain the game rattled cages at the conference level. He said he was awaiting DVDs and hadn't seen the key plays in detail, and that the conference would reveal its findings today.

Cutaia says any ejections warrant automatic scrutiny, and he didn't think there had been any this year until the Huskies and Beavers rang up four, three by OSU.

Once he checks out the tape, it will be hard not to reach this conclusion: The officials lost control of the game.

It was probably fitting that in the final three minutes, they made what looked to be an unconscionable gaffe that very nearly cost Oregon State the game. They'd blown it well before that.

Make no mistake, it was a brutal game to officiate, from the 6:18 mark of the second quarter, when OSU safety Al Afalava hit Jake Locker at the UW sideline, a play that turned a festive stadium silent and sent Locker to a hospital.

Replays showed Afalava's helmet hitting Locker's in a glancing blow. Intentional? It's hard to conclude that when the two players are sprinting at such an angle. UW coach Tyrone Willingham wanted a flag for helmet-to-helmet contact, but none was thrown.

UW athletic director Todd Turner said Sunday night he thinks the league needs to be especially vigilant about helmet-to-helmet hits. And he has already spoken with Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen and got "the distinct impression" that not only does the league review the ejections for their propriety, but it also can find new offenders in that video and discipline them.

After the Locker hit, the night devolved into an official's nightmare, one the refs never got a grip on. Washington players seemed aggrieved that OSU had knocked their star player from the game on a questionable hit; the Beavers took umbrage at what they saw as Washington's escalating chippiness after the Locker play.

OSU particularly took offense to a sequence when running back Yvenson Bernard appeared on replay to have been the target of a jab from UW defensive tackle Wilson Afoa. Afterward, there were murmurs on the OSU side — unsubstantiated — that a Huskies player had set up Afoa by pulling back Bernard's helmet.

Soon, it was no-holds-barred. On a UW goal-line play, two undercard events broke out, and three players were ejected: OSU starting defensive backs Bryan Payton and Brandon Hughes and Washington offensive lineman Ryan Tolar.

Not long after, on a punt, OSU freshman James Dockery locked up with a Husky on the sideline and Dockery took a swipe, becoming the third Beaver to get tossed and prompting OSU coach Mike Riley to gather his team and deliver a quick lecture.

On that play, Willingham dashed onto the field to intercept his player and steer him back to the sideline, which was more control than the officials seemed to exert.

If there wasn't a moment when referee Larry Farina gathered Willingham and Riley together to proclaim that enough was enough and that the next wayward frown by a player was going to get him thumbed, then there should have been. At halftime, maybe. On the field, even. It happens all the time in basketball.

Cutaia argues that game control is up to everybody, not just officials. Fair point; some Huskies and Beavers spent much of the night like preschool brothers poking each other in the back seat of an SUV. But a firmer hand by the zebras would have been helpful.

Inside three minutes came the call that almost stirred Dee Andros from his grave. Bernard, trying to finish a touchdown run, lunged the ball toward the goal line. His knee was down, his chest was very nearly touching as he extended the ball firmly to the line.

And the officials were, what, gazing at the stars? The splashy new OSU video board? Their watches, in a game that ended at 11:14 p.m.? Suddenly, Washington's Roy Lewis scampered off with the ball, and for a minute, looked like he could take it the distance for a game-winning touchdown. OSU chased him down and a couple of minutes later, finally quelled the uprising.

Riley had no timeouts left to ask for a review. But Cutaia confirmed that anything that appears questionable is fair game to be stopped in the replay booth, and this fumble looked as dubious as Britney Spears' latest CD.

Still, no review. The comprehensive rewind comes today. Cutaia shouldn't like what he sees.

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com