James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti may have figured out a way to keep games from needing official review by the referees after pulling out a cell phone to show video proof of a play that occurred.
Great moments in college football pic.twitter.com/mMZQgEb3fs
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 24, 2023
Cignetti, 62, was adamant that Utah State's kicker had stepped out of bounds on a play that led to a touchdown. Instead of waiting for the official to review, he whipped out a cell phone that someone on his staff used to record the play.
Needless to say, the game's zebra-shirted members weren't pleased with Cignetti's gesture, handing it back to the staffer and directing him back to their sideline.
On the broadcaster, the crew mentioned that what the staffer did was "illegal."
"You can't use that," one of the broadcasters said. "You can't use that. That is illegal from the minute the replay has started. You can't do that."
𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗸𝗲 🤝 𝗔𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗼𝘂𝗰𝗵𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻
📺 MWN #AtThePeak | #MWFB | #AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/ZnDQrRfxxo
— Mountain West (@MountainWest) September 24, 2023
Cignetti, as mentioned, was convinced he stepped out of bounds after breaking a tackle.
As you can see in the clip above, James Madison was already up 24-0 with 10:37 to go in the second quarter. Utah State needed to get something going.
They scored 17 points before the half ended, but James Maidson added 14 more for a score of 38-17 at halftime.
Coming out of the half, Utah State scored 21 unanswered to make it 38-38.
Then, with 5:52 to go in the game, James Madison quarterback Jordan McCloud hit Reggie Brown for a 74-yard touchdown. This was the game's final score, and James Madison won 45-38 after putting up 512 total yards of offense. Utah State added another 500, making it over 1,000 yards of offense.
If not for Cignetti's phone, we may not have known how explosive this game was.
