Big Ten says officials misplaced ball on Oregon's tying 2-point try in loss to UCLA

The Big Ten has acknowledged that its officials put the ball in the wrong place on Oregon's late tying 2-point conversion attempt in the No. 13 Ducks' loss to No. 21 UCLA. Oregon's second try started a yard farther from the goal line than the rules allow.

According to Yahoo Sports, the error started with Oregon's first attempt from the 3-yard line. The Ducks got the ball to the 1 on that play, and UCLA was flagged for a facemask. Officials then marked off half the distance to the goal from the original line of scrimmage, so the Ducks snapped from about the 1 1/2. Under the rule, the half-distance penalty should have been measured from where the run ended. That would have left Oregon needing about half a yard. On the replayed try, UCLA stopped Davison short.

In its statement, the conference said the ball "should have been spotted half-the-distance to the goal from the end of the run of the first attempt."

The mistake came just before the two-minute warning in a game that pushed the Ducks to 3-2. UCLA stayed unbeaten at 5-0. Yahoo Sports noted that Oregon may now need to win out to stay in the College Football Playoff race, and its schedule still includes No. 4 Ohio State.

The outlet also argued that Oregon had plenty of chances that had nothing to do with the officials. The Ducks committed seven turnovers if you count the fumble recovered on the game's final desperation play. They also didn't need a 2-point try at the end to tie. After UCLA took a 3-0 lead, coach Dan Lanning went for two after Oregon's first touchdown, and that try failed. Had Oregon kicked both extra points, the game would have been tied at 17 at the end.

The ruling adds to a difficult year for Big Ten officiating. In Week 1, officials put one second back on the clock before Michigan's game-winning Hail Mary in a 13-12 win over Western Michigan, and they did not follow replay timing protocols in doing so. In Week 5, Yahoo Sports reported, the same crew that worked the UCLA-Oregon game wrongly denied Nebraska the chance to retry a missed extra point after a Maryland penalty. The penalty was instead enforced on the kickoff.

That crew history gives some extra edge to this week. Oregon hosts Nebraska on Oct. 17, and the Ducks are favored at -251 on Novig, one of the venues pricing the game. The spread is Oregon -7.5 with a total of 52.5, and the best sportsbook price on Oregon is -250 at theScore Bet. Full prices are on the Nebraska at Oregon page.

UCLA puts its perfect record on the line at home against Wisconsin the same day. The Bruins are favored at -150 on Novig, with a spread of UCLA -3.5 and a total of 46.5. TheScore Bet has the best sportsbook number on UCLA at -155. Prices for that game are on the Wisconsin at UCLA page.

The admission doesn't change the result. For an Oregon team that started the season with playoff hopes, the margin for error is now very thin.