Connie:
Here's more for your brother-in-law: a summary of officiating mistakes during the last sequence of the game which went against the Spartans.
Michigan State had the ball first and 10 at the Michigan 18. Smoker was sacked on first down next play, back to the 22 yard line. But Michigan was found to have had 12 players on the field. It took a while for the officials to sort everything out. And then when they finally made the right call, they administered the penalty incorrectly.
First, if the officials had been sharp, they would have signaled for a clock stoppage immediately. Instead, MSU had to take a time out, one which should have been returned to the Spartans when the clock was stopped for the penalty.
Instead, the officials milled around and talked to each other while the Spartans went to the sideline. MSU should have retained a time out for the last :10 seconds.
Second, the officials walked off the penalty from the 22, where Smoker had been sacked. Thus, they allowed the sack to stand despite the fact that Michigan had 12 players on the field. (The stat sheet gives Michigan credit for 11 sacks on the day, but the officials counted 12 sacks, including the one that came with 12 men on the field.) The play obviously should not have stood; MSU should have had a free play. Instead, the officials walked half the distance to the goal line, from the 22, which gave MSU the ball at the UM 11, while they should have walked it off from the 18, giving MSU the ball at the 9-yard line.
Third, MSU lost the down. MSU was given second-and-three at the 11. Yes, the sack down counted. The Spartans should have retained first down, needing to get to the 8-yard line for another first down.
Soooo ~ MSU should have had first-and-one at the 9 with a time out, but as the result of the officating errors, it had lost 4 seconds as the time it took to call the time out, plus the time out, plus the down, plus the yardage. The team which was penalized by officiating error was MSU, not UM.
