Colleges

SEC eyes instant replay

By wire services
Published February 14, 2005

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Southeastern Conference hopes to begin using instant replay to avoid game-turning officiating blunders for the 2005 football season, but the system wouldn't necessarily have made a difference in the two most controversial miscalls last season.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive anticipates approval from athletic directors and presidents in March.

The NCAA Football Rules Committee recommended last week that member conferences and schools be allowed to use instant replay on an experimental basis for the 2005 season, as the Big Ten did last season.

The SEC had two high-profile miscalls last season. But a clock-management mistake in the Florida-Tennessee game and a pass interference that wasn't called in Alabama-LSU might not have been reviewable.

"The Big Ten experiment, and ours is the same way, was not designed to cover judgment calls," Slive said. Pass interference flags fit into that category, but crucial clock issues "are the kinds of questions that we'll have to discuss in terms of developing our own system," Slive said.

Alabama lost a chance to go up 17-6 when LSU's Corey Webster pushed receiver Keith Brown down in the end zone and intercepted the ball. No flag was thrown and LSU won 26-10. The Tennessee-Florida officials were late inrestarting the clock, allowing the Volunteers more time to drive for a winning field goal.

Baseball

UF 15, CHARLESTON SO. 6: Jeff Corsaletti homered and drove in six runs and Matt LaPorta's three-run homer keyed a seven-run seventh inning for the host Gators. Tampa third baseman Brandon McArthur made his collegiate regular-season debut during the weekend series with Charleston Southern. He sat out last season recovering from a severe head injury he received after he was attacked outside a Gainesville bar. The former Armwood star was 2-for-6, with two RBIs and two left on base in two games.

AUBURN 9, FSU 2: Josh Bell hit a three-run homer and Tyler Johnstone drove in three runs to lead the visiting Tigers. Gibbs Chapman scored for Florida State in the sixth when Bryan Henry was hit by a pitch from Josh Blake. Chapman had an RBI single in the ninth.

MIAMI 9, USF 4: Chris Perez struck out a career-high nine in six innings, Ryan Braun homered and Paco Figueroa had three hits, scored twice and drove in two runs as the host Hurricanes capped a three-game weekend sweep. Bryan Hierlmeier drove in all four runs for the Bulls.

UT 8-4, LYNN 0-0: Host Tampa completed a three-game sweep. T.J. Alonzo and Alex Castellvi each had a couple of hits and both scored a run as the Spartans took nine innings to win the final game.

Other sports

SOFTBALL: USF rebounded from two losses Saturday in Gainesville, taking the Florida GRU Classic bronze-medal game with a 9-1 win over Coastal Carolina. Kasey Cash got her second win of the season, pitching three shutout innings, striking out four. Bree Spence got her second save, allowing three hits, one run and striking out two. Notre Dame beat Florida 4-2 in the title game, the Gators' first loss in 12 games. "We can take a lot of positives away from this weekend," coach Karen Johns said. "We showed great unity and maintained our energy level through the whole weekend."

TENNIS: The USF men dropped their third straight match, losing 7-0 to visiting Auburn.

[Last modified February 14, 2005, 01:20:17]