‘Horse Sh*t!’ College Football World Gobsmacked By Controversial No-Call at the End of Texas-Arizona State Playoff Game

College football viewers were dumbfounded when a seemingly obvious call wasn’t made during the playoff game between Texas and Arizona State.

Late in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s game, Arizona State had the ball on their own 38-yard line. On 3rd & 15, ASU quarterback Sam Leavitt completed a 10-yard pass to Melquan Stovall — five yard short of a first down. After the play, however, Stovall stayed on the ground as he appeared shaken up from the tackle by Texas defensive back Michael Taaffe. Replays shown moments later revealed helmet-to-helmet contact on the tackle, resulting in Stovall’s head injury.

Officials then announced that the play was under review for targeting — which occurs when a defender leads with the crown of their helmet when tackling the ball carrier. The belief within the ESPN broadcast booth was that Taaffe would indeed be penalized. That would have resulted in his ejection and an automatic first down for ASU, putting the team in position to potentially beat Texas.

Instead, officials ruled that Taaffe’s hit did not meet the criteria for targeting. On 4th & 5 on their own side of the field, Arizona State was forced to punt. Texas would eventually win in overtime.

On social media, viewers couldn’t believe ASU didn’t get the benefit of the targeting call.

“100% targeting, horse shit to not call it,” analyst Warren Sharp tweeted. “AWFUL.”

That appeared to be the sentiment shared by everyone else in the industry.

Watch above via ESPN