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During the second quarter of Penn State’s Whiteout showdown against Auburn, the Nittany Lions seemingly may have punted on third down.
On a first down play, Sean Clifford threw the ball away after miscommunication with wide receiver Parker Washington. Following the play, the referees somehow ruled it an illegal grounding. The next play should’ve been 2nd and long, however, the referees believed it was for some reason third down meaning a Sean Clifford incomplete pass made it fourth down.
Unfortunately for the refs, the rest of the world believed it was third down following the completion... here are the reactions;
The refs forced Penn State to punt on third down!!!! Somebody has to be FIRED. pic.twitter.com/8aogjztuwc
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 19, 2021
Penn State just punted on third down due to a referee blunder.
— Covers (@Covers) September 19, 2021
CFL fans love to see it. pic.twitter.com/2rYiWilb8H
Folks. Penn State was just forced to punt on third down.
— John Reecer (@JReecerBGDN) September 19, 2021
All the referees and chaingang got it wrong at home in front of 100,000 fans. They had it marked as 4th down.
Even ESPN’s announcers were fooled at first. I couldn’t believe what I saw…but it really happened.
8 different officials in Happy Valley just allowed Penn State to punt it on 3rd down…
— Hutson Mason (@HMason14) September 19, 2021
The refs cheating Penn State bruh lol. Made them folks punt on 3&11
— MICHAEL X (@MichaelJ_NoFox) September 19, 2021
So these SEC refs called the worst intentional grounding I’ve ever seen AND got the downs wrong to make Penn State punt on 3rd down???#ItJustMeansMore
— Ross Tucker (@RossTuckerNFL) September 19, 2021
I’m all for seeing penn state getting screwed over but college football refs you gotta be better. I’d be fuming as a penn state fan. Making them punt on third down. Crazy
— R Squared (@ryan22_rob) September 19, 2021
Penn State being forced to punt on third down by the refs is kind of exactly what I expect in 2021.
— Mike Kulick (@MikeKulick) September 19, 2021