Yale coach Jack Siedlecki was worried already. Penn faced a big third-and-six from the Bulldogs' 42, and a conversion could help set up a go-ahead field goal in the closing minute of the first half.
So Seidlecki wasn't thrilled when a few careless seconds came Penn's way on that third down - the result of a missing man in a hat and a refereeing crew that had both sides yelling at it all Saturday afternoon.
He recounted his side of the incident afterwards:
"There were timing issues," Seidlecki said. "The one that happened, they were in the huddle, okay, and the clock was running. Then they decided to take a TV timeout fifteen seconds after[wards]. The clock had gone from 59 to [45] while they were in the huddle. Now, they decide to take a TV timeout because of [an] injury, now they put 1:02 back on the clock and now when [Penn] came out they were ready to run their play.
"They gained 16, 18 seconds on that. That's three, four plays in a two-minute offense."
And exposure aside, it's safe to say Seidlecki wasn't a fan of the YES Network's broadcast.
"They didn't score, it didn't end up that it was [important]. But that was a huge thing at that time in the game. That could have been three more pass plays, four more pass plays."
Seidlecki also cited a lack of communication with coaches - for example, on the signals of an impending television timeout, usually the result of an injury like it was on that key third-and-six.
"There was a lot of confusion with the TV thing. Usually they have that guy with the red hat and all that stuff. There was a guy in a grey T-shirt. You couldn't find him half the time, couldn't tell whether it was a TV timeout or not."
Penn coach Al Bagnoli mentioned officiating only offhandedly, referring to close calls in the overtimes.
But Siedlecki had a beef with someone other than the clock operator, too - the play-clock operator.
"We've got these new rules with the 15-second clock," he said. "They reset the clock for Penn one time. No way. That's a delay of game, flat out. But they got reset because, I think, they said, hey, we didn't know the TV timeout was over. There was a lot of that."
