Brent Pry is demanding better from the ACC.
Virginia Tech's coach called in the league's referees after a controversial Hail Mary call was overturned, costing the Hokies the winning touchdown and allowing Miami to escape with a 38-34 victory.
The referees initially ruled it a touchdown, but reversed the decision after video review and declared the pass incomplete.
After Friday night's game, Pry said he received no explanation from the officiating team either on the field or in the locker room, and only learned why the decision was overturned after the ACC released its version. Statements that are “confusing at best” It was just after 1am on Saturday.
“On Monday morning, I was finally contacted. This was at the request of ACC leadership,” Pry said Tuesday. “I asked for an explanation and the video they saw that would overturn the call with incontrovertible evidence. According to the explanation, there was a spill, but a Miami defender on the outside touched it. There was nothing new in the video, nothing that no one had seen before.The words used against me were “interpretation” and “hard to find.” But for me, neither is moot.
“I saw the video they were watching. If it's ruled a catch, I don't know how they would overturn it. There's no evidence. If it's ruled not a catch, how do they overturn it? I don't know. You don't see much to say.”
Virginia Tech thought it had escaped with the biggest upset of the season in Miami Gardens, Florida, but referees initially ruled that Hokies receiver Daquan Felton went down on quarterback Kyron Drones' Hail Mary attempt. And the time was up.
Although it could be argued that there was no conclusive evidence to overturn the call, the referee ruled that the pass was incomplete.
Pry said after the game that he didn't think there was enough evidence to overturn the decision, but he hoped the referees were right as it would have robbed his team of a monumental moment. However, Miami coach Mario Cristobal said he believed the call was incomplete.
ACC waited a while before issuing a statement on why the call was canceled.
“During the review process of the final play of the Virginia Tech-Miami game, we determined that the loose ball was touched by a Miami player while out of bounds, that the pass was incomplete, and that the play ended immediately. '' a league statement said, according to ESPN.
Virginia Tech (2-3) will look to bounce back with a trip to Stanford on Saturday and win its first conference game, while No. 8 Miami (5-0) heads to the west to take on California.
“I feel sorry for the players and the fans, but we have turned the page,” Pry said. “On Sunday night, we actively turned the page with our players, staff, media, players' parents, wives and everyone.”
