BYU vs. Notre Dame. Final play. Defensive Pass interference Offensive pass interference or good no-call? I’m curious how everyone sees this one, especially former players, coaches and officials. Pass interference is one of the more subjective calls in football. There are plenty of plays where you could make a reasonable argument for offensive or defensive PI, yet no flag is thrown. And there are other plays where a flag comes out for contact that probably didn’t warrant one. A lot depends on the official’s line of sight, positioning, angle, time of game, what’s happened prior and what they’re actually able to see. Even which sideline the play happens on can matter because it changes the official’s perspective and which player’s actions are visible. The same goes for holding. You could probably find offensive holding along the line of scrimmage or defensive holding somewhere in the secondary on just about any play if you looked hard enough. But there’s a difference between contact occurring and contact actually constituting a penalty. As a former DB, I’ve always believed there should be some latitude for hand fighting, especially when both players are competing for position and trying to locate the football. Grabbing an arm, wrist, elbow or shoulder doesn’t automatically mean pass interference. It’s when you start pulling, twisting, restricting movement or manipulating someone’s body to gain an advantage that I have a problem. And even then, there’s some subjectivity involved. You can objectively identify contact on film. Determining whether that contact rises to the level of a penalty is where an official’s judgment comes into play. Now consider the situation. It’s the final play of the game. Think about basketball. A team is down one point with three seconds left. A player drives to the rim, there’s contact, and the official has to decide whether to blow the whistle and put him on the free-throw line with a chance to win the game. Do you really want a borderline, subjective foul deciding the outcome? I’m not saying you swallow the whistle on an obvious foul. If it’s blatant, call it. But if it’s marginal contact and both players are competing, I’ve always leaned toward letting them play. I also understand the counterargument. A foul in the first quarter should be a foul in the fourth quarter. The rules shouldn’t change because of the clock. So I’m curious where everyone stands. On the final play of BYU vs. Notre Dame, did you see: Defensive pass interference Offensive pass interference Good no-call And here’s the bigger question: Should officials have a higher threshold for making subjective calls on the final play of a game, or should the standard be exactly the same from start to finish?