Cal's penalty woes have been well documented on this website (#119 of 120 schools), but I was surprised at the disparity of the Pac-12 conference vs all the other Div-1 conferences.

Not only are we the most penalized conference in the nation, we are BY FAR the most penalized conference.

Take a look at these stats:

- The least penalized team in the Pac-12 was USC....and they were ranked 61st in the nation...not even among the top half of the 120 Div 1 teams.

- Seven teams in the Pac-12 are ranked in the 100's nationally, including the three most penalized teams: #103 WSU, #110 Oregon, #111 Arizona, #115 Colorado, #118 OSU, #119 Cal, #120 ASU

- Pac-12's average of 63 penalty yards per game was 25% higher than the national average of 50.6.

- Pac-12's average was 50% higher than the Independent teams, which had the fewest penalty yards with 41.9 per game.

- The Pac-12 was 11% higher than the 2nd most penalized conference, Sun Belt, which had 56.8 penalty yards per game.

I thought Larry Scott was going to make improvements in conference officiating....I hope he doesn't see this as being progress. Something has to be done!

:headbang

Yup, this was brought up at the end of last season. Pac-12 refs are extremely flag-happy as compared to other major conferences, and it's not close.

sycasey;734562 said:

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Yup, this was brought up at the end of last season. Pac-12 refs are extremely flag-happy as compared to other major conferences, and it's not close.

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I honestly have not seen so many phantom calls than I did last year...the rule is don't throw the flag unless you see the penalty...seems like the Pac 12 refs go by the rule that if in doubt, throw the flag....Larry Scott's new Ref team needs more training....

SacCityBear;734582 said:

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And yet Oregon is still under penalized when it comes to the holding they do, so go figure.

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Just goes to show how random these refs are. Or maybe they do have a rule: call lots of phantom penalties, don't call the obvious ones.

sycasey;734562 said:

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Yup, this was brought up at the end of last season. Pac-12 refs are extremely flag-happy as compared to other major conferences, and it's not close.

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11-13-2011, 02:41 PM

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This is crazy! If you scroll back you will find 9 of the pac12 extend from 93 (ucla) to cal at 120. Sc and wash are in the mid 60s and the furd have the least penalties. This is certainly something that Scott should concern himself with. The refs have been instructed to call them close and call them often. Holding and false starts are not fouls which protect student- athletes. They are disruptive.

SacCityBear;734582 said:

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And yet Oregon is still under penalized when it comes to the holding they do, so go figure.

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Well, I wouldn't be bothered by that if Cal were allowed to get away with the same holding, but as several games showed (the Oregon State game in particular), we aren't.

The number of penalties we get might have something to do with our style of playing...


But I doubt it.



I would really like to see a breakdown of penalties: ie do we get a significantly higher number of holding, PF, etc. how many are dead ball fouls?





Either way, this is topic is old news, and somehow, I would actually like to see it posted more often in more places...

For example, painted on the side of the new Pac12 building in SF.

Agreed. I would be really interested to see a breakdown of the penalties on offense vs. defense and you're right, it would be informative to have it broken down by dead ball vs. judgment calls.

It would be easy for a conspiracy theorist to conclude that officials have an agenda other than fairness. For example, is it a coincidence that the two wealthy private schools in the conference are the least penalized or is it possible that $C could be getting preferential treatment because they bring in more revenue at bowls and on TV? Certainly the conference would take a big financial hit if $C became a losing program and was no longer popular. When $$ are the bottom line, any amount of corruption is feasable in meeting that bottom line. Normally such theories are paranoid but the penalties in the conference have been out of the ordinary for some time. Not only is it the amount but the nature and the context of the penalties that is disturbing and it is detracting from the game.

Furthermore, other calls like the call making the reception by Coleman Edmund against Colorado last year an incomplete was the only call of its kind in college football last year, as far as I know. So it's not just the penalties, its the officiating in general that is distinct from other conferences.

Pac 12 football officiating is clearly bad. No secret there. Embarassing as well.

Pac 12 basketball officiating is an absolute atrocity that has a real impact. Pac 12 teams are like zoo animals when they play outside the conference -- they have no idea what the wild is really like because they've been protected by sh%tty Pac 12 officiating for most of the season.

Notice that I'm not saying the refs are bad. They are just doing their job. Clearly (in my eyes) someone at the top wants the Pac 12 games to be controlled by the refs.

heartofthebear;734621 said:

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It would be easy for a conspiracy theorist to conclude that officials have an agenda other than fairness. For example, is it a coincidence that the two wealthy private schools in the conference are the least penalized or is it possible that $C could be getting preferential treatment because they bring in more revenue at bowls and on TV? Certainly the conference would take a big financial hit if $C became a losing program and was no longer popular. When $$ are the bottom line, any amount of corruption is feasable in meeting that bottom line. Normally such theories are paranoid but the penalties in the conference have been out of the ordinary for some time. Not only is it the amount but the nature and the context of the penalties that is disturbing and it is detracting from the game.

Furthermore, other calls like the call making the reception by Coleman Edmund against Colorado last year an incomplete was the only call of its kind in college football last year, as far as I know. So it's not just the penalties, its the officiating in general that is distinct from other conferences.

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FWIW, $C has lead the Pac in penalties many years.

Phantomfan;734602 said:

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The number of penalties we get might have something to do with our style of playing...

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I've often thought this too but don't know enough about football to be certain, but for instance in a pass happy league wouldn't their obviously be more holding penalties?

Vandalus;734608 said:

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Agreed. I would be really interested to see a breakdown of the penalties on offense vs. defense and you're right, it would be informative to have it broken down by dead ball vs. judgment calls.

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I recall the last time this came up, it was noted that both Utah and Colorado dropped considerably in the rankings between 2010 and 2011 - meaning while playing in the MWC and Big-12 the number of penalties they, ahem, 'earned' was considerably less.

I think that is a strong indicator that regardless of the type of calls - Pac-12 refs just call too many.

socalBear23;734673 said:

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FWIW, $C has lead the Pac in penalties many years.

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Good to know and thanks for setting the record straight. I have lingering frustation from attending games against $C where there were crucial calls that went against Cal unfairly. Call it post traumatic (SC) disorder.