Miami (Ohio) got caught trying to mess with Ohio's kicker on Tuesday night — and it almost didn't matter. Officials flagged the RedHawks for unsportsmanlike conduct after images of extra field-goal uprights showed up on the video board behind the goalpost while Ohio lined up for a 34-yard attempt, with Ohio leading 17-7 at the time.
Ohio kicker Brack Peacock missed the kick off the right upright anyway, according to USA Today, which reported that officials described the infraction simply as depictions of the field goal uprights on the scoreboard. The penalty gave the Bobcats a fresh set of downs rather than wiping out the missed kick, and The Athletic noted Ohio retained possession as a result.
Ohio didn't cash in. With six seconds left in the half, the Bobcats instead tried a fake field goal that fell apart, as a first-and-goal pass from Magnus Haines to Evan Herrman fell incomplete, according to Yahoo Sports. The score stood at 17-7 at the break, with the penalty having cost the RedHawks a flag but not, it turned out, the result.
RedHawks Pour It On After Halftime
Miami (Ohio) didn't need the gimmick to turn the game around. The RedHawks didn't allow another point the rest of the way, winning 34-17 to improve to 6-4 on the season, per the same USA Today report. The Associated Press credited true freshman quarterback Drew Bellisari with rallying Miami (Ohio) to the victory in his debut, according to the Associated Press.
The win kept the trophy in Oxford for a rivalry game that stretches back decades. The penalty made for an odd footnote to a night that ultimately belonged to Miami's offense, not its video-board operators.
A Familiar Trick With NFL-Level Consequences
This isn't the first time a scoreboard display has drawn scrutiny during a kick. Back in 2020, Oklahoma State posted flashing vertical yellow lines on its video board during a Texas field-goal attempt, according to AL.com. Texas kicker Cameron Dicker made the 40-yard attempt anyway, but Longhorns coach Tom Herman later said the Big 12 told him the tactic was not permissible and had been addressed, telling the outlet, “I was told that it is not permissible and it has been addressed.”
The NFL has since taken its own action on the issue. The league informed teams in September that it had modified what can be shown on video boards during field goal and extra point attempts, the USA Today report noted. That change reportedly followed a social media post highlighting how the New England Patriots had put a shot of the field that included the goalposts on screen, creating what one former Philadelphia Eagles analytics staffer flagged as an optical illusion for kickers, a modification ESPN also reported on.
Whether that NFL rule change has any bearing on college football rules, or on how officials in the Miami-Ohio game reached their call, isn't established by the available reporting. What's clear is that for the second time in six years, a Midwestern college football program has been called out for putting something extra behind the goalposts — and for the second time, it didn't change who walked away with the win.
