Big Ten refs under fire again after admitting another costly officiating error

The Big Ten released a statement Monday night saying the crew "incorrectly officiated" a roughing the snapper penalty at the end of Nebraska's blowout win over Maryland, according to www.cbssports.com. It is the latest mistake from a group already under scrutiny this season.

The penalty came after Nebraska scored its final touchdown to go up 48-23. Officials enforced the penalty on the ensuing kickoff instead of allowing Nebraska kicker Kyle Cunanan to retry the missed extra point, per the Big Ten statement. The conference said that since the attempt was missed, the penalty should have resulted in a retry with the yardage enforced half the distance to the goal.

"The missed attempt took place after Nebraska took a 48-23 lead when roughing the snapper was called during play," the Big Ten said. "Since the attempt was missed, by rule, the penalty should have resulted in Nebraska retrying the attempt with the penalty yardage enforced half the distance to the goal. However, the miss was allowed to stand and the penalty yardage was incorrectly enforced on the subsequent kickoff."

Much of that same officiating crew — including referee Jim Wharrie, head linesman Ric Hinkamper, back judge Jeff Latkiewicz, side judge Grady Smith and field judge Kyle Debuse — oversaw the controversial ending in Michigan's win over Western Michigan just a few weeks earlier, per www.cbssports.com. In that game, the crew reportedly did not follow proper review protocols when determining whether a second should be added to the clock for one final play. No additional details beyond the Big Ten statement are confirmed.

WHAT HAPPENED ON THE FIELD

Nebraska kicker Kyle Cunanan missed the extra point after the Huskers took a 48-23 lead, but the mistake on the field belonged just as much to the officials, per the Big Ten's Monday night statement.

The roughing the snapper penalty was called during the play, and the conference acknowledged the miss should not have stood. "Since the attempt was missed, by rule, the penalty should have resulted in Nebraska retrying the attempt with the penalty yardage enforced half the distance to the goal," the Big Ten said. "However, the miss was allowed to stand and the penalty yardage was incorrectly enforced on the subsequent kickoff."

That enforcement on the kickoff is where the sequence went sideways. Instead of giving Cunanan another chance from a shorter distance, the officials let the missed point stand and applied the yardage to the restart.

The final score beyond the 48-23 point has not been confirmed, but the conference's admission makes clear the play was botched. The error came from a crew already under scrutiny — referee Jim Wharrie, head linesman Ric Hinkamper, back judge Jeff Latkiewicz, side judge Grady Smith and field judge Kyle Debuse all worked Michigan's controversial win over Western Michigan weeks earlier, per www.cbssports.com.

In that game, the crew reportedly failed to follow proper review protocols on whether a second should be added to the clock for a final play. Now they've admitted another one.