College Football

Iowa St. coach delivers screaming post-game ref rant

Paul Rhoads made a name for Iowa State football Thursday night, but it didn’t happen the way the coach would’ve preferred.

Rhoads unleashed a memorable tirade in his post-game press conference Thursday night following the Cyclones’ heartbreaking 31-30 loss to Texas after what he felt a non-call cost his team the game.

With just over a minute left and Iowa State nursing a six-point lead, Texas running back Johnathan Gray seemed to fumble at the Iowa State 1-yard-line. Iowa State’s Jeremiah George scooped up the loose ball and went in the other direction, but a whistle blew the play dead, the runner signaled down by contact. Case McCoy scored two plays later with 51 seconds left.

“To make a play on the 1-yard line with our backs against the wall … [and to] have it taken away from them, that’s hard to express. You don’t just put an arm around a guy and tell him it’s OK when that happens to him,” said Rhoads, his voice rising in anger with each word. “I’ve got pretty good eyesight. The view I had of that gigantic screen in the north end zone showed a guy that was not down and our guy with the football.

“The conference office reviews all things. I’m sure they will review this, and I’m sure they will come forward with what they feel the play should have been called.”

Iowa State was flagged 10 times for 118 yards after averaging 31 penalty yards per game coming in.

“We’re the least penalized team coming into the game,” Rhoads said. “An awful lot of hankies on the field.”

Rhoads wasn’t alone in his criticism of the play. Former Texas Tech athletic director Bill Byrne went to Twitter to fault the officials.

“Watched it happen too many times,” he tweeted. “When [Texas] needs a call, they get it. Clearly a fumble. Call goes for TU.”