When the Syracuse football team added Purdue to its schedule in February, the Orange knew it would test the moxie of an inexperienced football team. Who knew SU would be the guinea pig in another test? Instant replay.

This year the Big Ten Conference will employ instant replay for all of its conference games, as well as the option for usage during non-conference games at Big Ten sites. Syracuse, which opens its season Sept. 5 at Purdue, was asked if it would participate in the test. The willingness was resounding.

‘It’s terrific,’ said SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni. ‘I thought, ‘Great, let’s do it. You can’t lose.”

In the spring, the Big Ten sent letters to Pasqualoni and SU Director of Athletics Jake Crouthamel, asking for permission to use replay to review questionable calls. Last year, the Big Ten experimented with replay during games, but calls were not overturned or reversed. Presumably, that test run was successful.

Now, the ruling from the press box will count. Unlike the NFL system, coaches won’t be allowed to challenge calls. Rather, all replay decisions will come from a team in the press box. A technical adviser will order a review and a decision will be made up in the press box, not by a referee. Despite the game being played at a Big Ten location, it will be officiated by a Big East crew.

All replays this season will be taken from the televised broadcasts. For SU’s game against Purdue, the ABC feed will be used. If the game isn’t on television, replay will not be used.

The cost, though, is tremendous. Crouthamel guessed that replay might cost teams $1 million per site. All 11 Big Ten teams will use the technology, making it a costly venture, though television revenues will help mitigate the price tag.

If instant replay is successful in the Big Ten, Pasqualoni and Crouthamel hope it can be used in the Big East in the future.

‘I do think that some BCS conferences – because so much is at stake – will pick this up,’ Crouthamel said. ‘If others are going to do it, then we should do it.’

Like the NFL, subjective calls such as pass interference or holding will not be reviewed.

‘If it has a chance to help the game – make things right – I’m all for it,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘I’m hoping it works great and the Big East says, ‘Let’s do it next year.”

Published on August 30, 2004 at 12:00 pm