Pitt didn’t lose to Wake Forest simply because an official marked Christian Veilleux’s fourth quarter slide on 3rd-and-8 short of the line to gain, but it’s hard to imagine the Panthers lose if that play is converted.
By now, everyone knows that Pitt punted the ball away on the ensuing 4th-and-1 from deep within its own territory, a short 32-yard punt at that, and Wake Forest drove 52 yards in a little under a minute to walk off the field at Allegacy Stadium with a shocking win.
Considering the history of slides between Pitt and Wake Forest, there were plenty of people who brought up Kenny Pickett’s fake slide in the 2021 ACC championship game, but Veilleux wasn’t trying to fake a slide.
He was trying to convert a first down and stay in bounds to keep the game clock moving. But when it comes to sliding, it’s a subject call determined by where the official believes a quarterback — or any offensive player — begins his slide. The officials, in this case, decided that it was short of the line to gain.
No matter the ruling, Pat Narduzzi believes that the slide rule should be reviewed.
“First of all, the slide rule is to protect the quarterback,” Narduzzi said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Protect the quarterback who’s trying to help himself. It’s not for an official to determine when he started his slide and all that stuff and wouldn’t it have been nice if the official went and looked at the little TV there and goes, ‘Okay, let’s be sensible here.’ The kid was being smart, he wanted to stay in bounds, so I give him that. I wish he’d have taken two more steps or whatever, but it is what it is … To me, it’s still a first down.”
It is a slippery slope as the decision is objective and, clearly, it isn’t enforced as strictly in all instances. As shown below by Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis being awarded a first down off an early slide.
Whether or not Veilleux picked up the first down or not by sliding, and it is what it is at this point, Narduzzi said after the game that his quarterback likely should’ve just dove forward. But diving headfirst may have led to issues of its own.
“That’s what most quarterbacks would do, and coach (Frank) Cignetti brought up a good point, I said, ‘Can’t he just dive forward instead of backwards?’ He said that’s where fumbles happen,” Narduzzi said.
“He thought he was clearly beyond the line, and it looked like he was.”
Pitt will be back on the road this weekend, heading to South Bend, Ind. to take on No. 14 Notre Dame, and with any luck, a sliding quarterback won’t factor into the outcome.
Instead of just running out of bouns for a first down, some bonehead coach told the kid to slide (to save a few seconds). PN is truly an imbecil.
Sorry, I’m with Narduzzi on this one. That official needed to use some common sense there. No defenders were around CV to stop him, so just give him the damn first down (ref. Jordan Travis above). If they want to enforce the rules to the letter of the book, than throw the flag every time a DB lays a hand on a receiver or every time a lineman grabs a defender. Could probably throw a flag on every play, but thankfully, officials apply some common sense when enforcing the rules. That was a real ticky-tacky call and it cost Pitt… Read more »
It’s neither a “subject call” nor an “objective decision” as stated in this article. It’s a subjective call or a subjective decision. Either way, it’s a horrible rule that needs to be changed.