2003 Fiesta Bowl - The Call

The Call

The pass was ruled incomplete by the side judge. A few seconds later, another official threw a flag, calling for pass interference against Miami. When asked why it took him so long to make the call, official Terry Porter said he wanted to make sure that the call was correct. When reviewed in frames 2, 3 and 4, where Glenn Sharpe is seen holding Chris Gamble, the ball is already in flight, which is why Porter changed the hold to pass interference.

"The Call" has since been defended by two sportswriters as a good one, however some sportswriter have denounced the call, including Sports Illustrated's Rick Reilly, and CBS Sports Dennis Dodd, who wrote:

I saw a piece somewhere before the BCS title game on Porter and his refusal to back down from doing anything wrong. I've written about his call extensively over the year. It wasn't until I saw that piece again recently that I realize how much Porter choked. What the piece failed to mention was that the Big 12 tried to spin it a different way. The flag wasn't for pass interference, they said, but HOLDING. It appears that Miami's Glenn Sharpe did hold Chris Gamble off the line, but that would make the call even more ridiculous. That means that Porter threw the flag a good 10 seconds after the snap.

It should also be noted that Dodd later changed his opinion and wrote the following:

Terry Porter was right. Six and a half months after the most controversial call of the Bowl Championship Series era, the Big 12 field judge has been vindicated.

In the age before coaches' challenges and referee reviews were included within the NCAA rules, the call was subsequently validated by the National Association of Sports Officials, and was also selected by Referee Magazine as one of the "Best 18 Calls of All Time."

"The Call" was also discussed on the ESPN Classic show, The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..., in an episode titled, "The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame the Referees for Miami losing the 2003 Fiesta Bowl."