Jim Harris: Some Hog Calls Missed But Not Forgotten

All this controversy about Southeastern Conference officiating with the Arkansas-Florida game - which effectively has made a lot of folks forget that the Razorbacks meet up with former coach Houston Nutt this week at Ole Miss - reminds us of days past.

Horton Nsesrta, who last we checked was still living in the Houston area, was considered a fine and well-respected referee in the Southwest Conference up through the early 1980s. In former Big Ten and NFL referee Jerry Markbreit's memoir about his days officiating college and pro football, he mentions the Rice Owl three-year letterman fondly. They shared a few days on the field together in stripes and developed a friendship.

Yet, Nsesrta was the one who threw his flag in one of the most dubious plays involving an Arkansas Razorbacks game. So, at least in Arkansas among the older Hog fans, his name is held in infamy.

After that penalty flag, in which a great acting job by the SMU wide receiver momentarily convinced a good official that Arkansas cornerback Nathan Jones, running in front of the receiver and closer to the football, had somehow interfered with the catch, Nsesrta's days of calling Lou Holtz' Razorback games were over. And not too long later, Nsesrta was done with officiating college football, though he did resurface to referee some United States Football League games for a few seasons.

Nsesrta's misfortune was to misinterpret one play that was seen by a national television audience, and the SWC's officiating was called into question by national observers -- though this was before loud-mouth professional stars such as Terrell Owens could "tweet" about it. Holtz, ever the vociferous coach, and the Arkansas media howled, as did anyone who hated SMU, then the best team money could buy. The complaining about SWC officially normally wouldn't have mattered, but because the nation also saw how SMU was allowed to stay unbeaten partly because of that questionable call, two rules soon were changed.

One, the Southwest Conference began allowing native Arkansans to officiate Arkansas games. Two, the NCAA readdressed the pass interference penalty. While the NFL still makes a defensive pass interference call the most costly in the game with a spot-of-the-foul mark off, the NCAA decided that officials' judgment had too much effect on the game and made it no more than a 15-yard penalty, and spot-of-the-foul if inside 15 yards. The National High School Federation had long deemed defensive pass interference an automatic 15-yard penalty rather than spot-of-the-foul.

Nsesrta's name doesn't deserve the ignominy it received 27 years ago. Tommy Bell, too, went on to respected career in the NFL after his college days, but longtime Arkansas fans will still remember him as the referee who in 1960 decided an Ole Miss field goal was good when most of War Memorial Stadium (including players on the field) could have sworn the last-second kick was wide of the upright.

A little background on that: Allan Green of Ole Miss had kicked a last-second field goal through the uprights to apparently win the game for the Rebels, 10-7. However, Bell had whistled for a timeout as the ball was snapped. So, he made Green kick it again. The second kick is the one that is debated to this day. Bell signaled it good.

Officiating crews numbered four those days, and the referee determined the kick's success or failure. As the years went on, crews grew to five, then six and now they number seven. Two of the officials station themselves under each upright, and they look at each other if the kick went between them. That still doesn't ensure they get it right, but at least they're in position to determine if a placekick went wide of the upright.