A football school in a basketball conference

Disappointment. That’s one way to sum up my football night tonight. Sure, I was on the field for the whole game, but it didn’t help that the UVA team were completely rude and showed very poor sportsmanship.
As a senior—this was my last home game ever—seeing the way the referees treated our team, the way the other team treated ours and the way our fans were rightfully outraged, I was truly upset. I was standing in the south end zone when the clock “ran out” the first time. The referees hadn’t placed the ball back on the field when it “ran out,” but UVA’s team acted like they won the dadgum ball game.
Their team started jumping and hooting and hollering. Then, suddenly, they all ran—no, sprinted toward the locker room. They knew they hadn’t yet won the game, so they wanted to get off the field as quickly as possible so the refs couldn’t make them come back and really end it.
After nearly 20 minutes of deliberation on this “play,” the refs put 8 seconds back on the clock, the Noles came back on the field and Dustin Hopkins lined up for a field goal. How on earth is Dustin supposed to focus and nail a field goal after that kind of stress? The final 8 seconds of game play lasted nearly 2 minutes. Dustin lined up the kick and it soared. It was up…. and it looked good. The refs said no dice. A replay showed the ball going right over the upright. They were right—no dice.
I understand we’re a football school in a basketball heavy conference. I get that. But that’s no reason for ACC refs to CONSTANTLY make calls against us, or manage to miss calls against the other team. And this, our homecoming game. Our senior night. Our LAST home game of the 2011 season. Shame on you ACC refs.