The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions had 3rd-and-11 turned into 4th-and-11 due to officials losing track of downs on Saturday night against No. 22 Auburn. And because of that mistake, Penn State punted, on what was — in reality — third down.
First, here’s how the sequence looked on gamecasts, and we’ll follow that up with a video breakdown:
On 1st-and-10, Penn State threw an incomplete pass downfield, and the officials added a (questionable) intentional grounding call to go with it.
That made it 2nd-and-16, and the Nittany Lions proceeded to gain five yards.
So now it’s 2nd-and-16, and Penn State gains five yards to make it 3rd-and-11. pic.twitter.com/rVELAAcVva
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) September 19, 2021
So we’re at 3rd-and-11, but the officials said it 4th-and-11. Somehow, everybody just carried on like nothing was wrong, and Penn State punted.
But the refs decided it was fourth down, not third down.
So, 3rd-and-11 became 4th-and-11. And for some reason, Penn State seemingly didn’t fight this ruling very hard, resulting in a punt on third down. pic.twitter.com/c2qQhQk5Oq
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) September 19, 2021
When the game returned from commercial break, ESPN color commentator Kirk Herbstreit correctly said, “I think [Penn State] may have punted on third down.”
After the commercial break, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit pointed out that Penn State “may have punted on third down,” which is exactly what happened. pic.twitter.com/h2iK5f64PZ
— The Comeback NCAA (@TheComebackNCAA) September 19, 2021
That’s a rough gaffe by the officiating crew.
Here’s how James Franklin responded to it during his halftime interview:
[Photo Credit: ABC/ESPN]