According to a report from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Jerry DiPaola, the ACC informed Pitt that Christian Veilleux’s controversial slide was ruled correctly by officials.
I don’t know if the slide needs to be rehashed again at this point, but of course, it was a pivotal moment in the Pitt-Wake Forest matchup.
Veilleux took off on a 3rd-and-8 with 45 seconds left in the fourth quarter, forced out of the pocket and running toward the sideline. He slid down across the line to gain to pick up the first down and keep the clock moving. Pretty much game over.
Well, not so fast.
The officials convened and decided that Veilleux started his slide short of the line to gain and as such, he was short of the line to gain. It resulted in a 4th-and-1 on the Pitt 16.
Caleb Junko punted the ball away, a poor 32-yard boot, to boot, and Wake Forest needed to drive just 52 yards to walk off with a win. Santino Marucci, in his first career start, hit tight end Cameron Hite six plays later for a 15-yard game-winning touchdown with seven seconds left.
“I definitely felt like I had it, gonna have to watch the film, but it’s a tough one,” Veilleux said after the loss. “Just gonna have to get over it and move on. I’ll see the film, and then I’ll truly have a piece of mind.
“I just know the rule, when you start the slide that’s when they down you, so maybe I started early. To me, it felt like I had the sticks. But then again, I’ll watch the film then I’ll know.”
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.”
But obviously, the ACC saw it otherwise, saying the officials made the right call.
The right call for the ACC is whatever helps a North Carolina team win.
100% truth in the statement above. The good ol boy conference is pathetic and that is why they will be the next one to implode.
WORST CALL IN THE HISTORY OF FOOTBALL OR JUST THIS WEEKEND. SPORTS IN GENERAL AND FOOTBALL HSVE A REFEREE PROBLEM. BUT WILL THE POWERS TO BE RECOGNIZE IT. VERY DOUGHTFUL.
Apparently it is a fan or alumni issue. The letter of law has to be assessed in real-time and is very clear compared to the Pro language. It is when the slide is initiated as compared to the Pro game where the first part of the body is down. Go back and assess the 2nd down play where the Hold was called that stopped the clock. Or the poor punt for 32-yards. Or the Safety’s double penalty. Better yet tell me whether the CB had pass-interference all tangled up with Wake’s WR before he ended up with the interception. Let… Read more »
It looked right to me. He started to slide before reaching the line to gain. Why did he slide at all? He just had to get the first down and run out of bounds.
If the ACC’s stance on this horrible call is any indication, the ACC is being led by a bunch of fools. No doubt the same fools that signed a horrible TV contract through 2036 with ESPN and that are being steamrolled by the Big 10 and SEC.
Left unsaid by the league was that a literal interpretation of the slide rule need not apply for an undefeated top-ten ACC team that is battling for a spot in the college football playoffs.
If that’s the way they wish to be and with what is best described on minimal coverage on the ACC Huddle highlights, perhaps PITT and the other non Magnificent Seven should have a substantially reduced exit fee.
I almost wish Joan Capel and Heather Lyke would strongly consider moving Pitt out of the ACC, because I feel team’s like Pitt and even Syracuse and could probably even put Louisville and Boston College in this, are kind of like the red headed step child of the ACC, unless your a team from North Carolina, Florida, or Georgia, the ACC really doesn’t care about you because your not one of the originals. This isn’t the first time, ACC has been hit with shady officiating way back in 2003 in a game between Florida and Florida State, the ACC officiating… Read more »
Okay ACC, so explain the Jordan Travis slide, his slide was way before the first down marker, even way before Vellieux’s, but is called a first down?
I think they got the call right. He started into the slide before the line to gain.
Regardless, he didn’t have to slide at all. He could easily have picked up the first down and run out of bounds.
After what I saw in the Florida State-Duke game. The same thing happened, only the QB’s slide was way before the first down marker, even more than Veillux’s. If you make a call, you do it consistently you don’t have double standards.
This was far from Pitt’s issues in losing this game, but I’m more upset with the lack of consistency when the same thing happened in a different game and it’s called a first down. It really makes the ACC look bad. They are already getting crushed in media revenue and this doesn’t help.