Michael Wilbon went scorched earth on his network’s own rules analyst on Friday.
Wilbon dug into Bill LeMonnier’s read of the controversial final play of Miami’s 31-27 win over Mississippi in the College Football Playoff semifinal on Thursday, calling the ESPN rules analyst a “sniveling idiot.”
“I can’t get over the end of the game. It was pass interference,” Wilbon said during an episode of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” on Friday. “So I hear the official in the broadcast come in and say ‘Well, you know, you don’t call that because there’s hand-to-hand combat.’
“No, there’s not! Don’t be a sniveling idiot! There’s pass…. interference. Have the guts to call it or criticize your colleagues down on the field.”
In the game’s final moments, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss threw a pass in the end zone directed for receiver De’Zhaun Stribling, and it appeared that Hurricanes cornerback Ethan O’Connor pulled on Stribling’s jersey as the two tussled while the ball was in the air.
Despite the prolonged contact between the two as the pass neared them, officials did not rule any pass interference, which many fans believed was the wrong call.
During the ESPN broadcast, however, LeMonnier explained that officials likely deemed the play “mutual combat,” adding that referees will not call a penalty in that situation “99 percent of the time.”
He also argued that neither player got a “true advantage” from the contact.
Many throughout the college football world were astonished by the call from officials, with even ex-Rebels head coach Lane Kiffin chiming in favor of his former team.
“Pass interference,” Kiffin, who controversially ditched Ole Miss in favor of LSU in the middle of the season, posted on X.
Ole Miss head coach Pete Golding was slightly more forgiving when talking to reporters after the game.
“Those situations are tough to call them,” Golding told reporters. “There was definitely contact. It happens a lot.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
