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Officiating crew announced for TCU vs. Michigan in College Football Playoff

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•12/30/22•

AndrewEdGraham

On3 image
ATHENS, GA - OCTOBER 15: Referee Steve Marlowe reviews the Instant Replay during the college football game between the Georgia Bulldogs and the Vanderbilt Commodores on October 15, 2022 at Sanford Stadium in Athens, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Officiating assignments for the College Football Playoff semifinals are out via Football Zebras and Michigan and TCU have pulled an SEC crew for the Fiesta Bowl. And it’s one featuring a number of officials who called the national championship game last season.

The referee is Jason Autrey, who was part of the crew for the 2021-22 title game in January and also found himself at the center of one of the more contrived controversies of the 2022 season. The other officials who called that game also on the Fiesta Bowl crew is side judge Sean Petty, back judge Martin Hankins and center judge Chris Garner.

Two other officials on the crew, umpire Brent Sowell and line judge Michael Taylor, worked bowl games last season.

The full officiating crew for the Fiesta Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal is as follows:

  • Jason Autrey, referee
  • Brent Sowell, umpire
  • Nicholas Theriot, head line judge
  • Michael Taylor, line judge
  • Daniel Gautreaux, field judge
  • Sean Petty, side judge
  • Martin Hankins, back judge
  • Chris Garner, center judge
  • Scott Walker, alternate
  • David Almand, replay
  • Marc Gervais, communicator

Michigan and TCU landed an SEC officiating crew out of a pool that would’ve included the ACC, Pac-12 and SEC; the Big Ten and Big 12 were not options, given that the Wolverines and Horned Frogs play in those respective leagues.

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Both the Wolverines and Horned Frogs are among the least penalized teams in the country, too. TCU has been flagged 60 times in 13 games, or 4.62 per game. Michigan is even better with 53 total penalties in the same amount of games — 4.08 a contest — which is tied for the sixth-best mark in the nation.

There is a bigger disparity in the total penalty yards. Michigan is fifth nationally with 420 penalty yards. TCU is 46th with 609. That’s nearly a 15 yards a game difference in the penalty yardage these teams have taken.

Either way, if both these teams hold to form, the officiating crew isn’t likely to become the main story — as it should be.