The instant replay system made its first appearance on the college football field this season after a high approval rating for the four years used in the NFL. After making its debut in Divison I-A college football, the Nicholls community said they would like to see it in Division I-AA.After being used for four years in the NFL, NCAA officials began exploring the instant replay system two years ago.

Prior to the start of the 2005 college football season, several NCAA Division I-A conferences, including the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big East, Big Ten, Big XII, Mid-American, Mountain West, Pacific 10 and Southeastern Conference voted to have replay systems installed for the 2005 season.

However, unlike in the NFL, head coaches have no control over what is challenged. The call is made in the booth upstairs by a referee who buzzes the official on the field about a review.

According to The NCAA News, in conferences such as the Pac-10, the replay system resembles a TIVO with the ability to scroll back and forth and enables officials to go back to a previous replay at the push of a button.

This season, the instant replay system already came into play during its first official game. During the Notre Dame-Michigan game on Sept. 10, a questionable Michigan fumble on the goal line proved to be the right call with instant replay. Altogether, 77 calls had been reviewed and 26 overturned in just the first week of the college football season.

Instant replay provides various camera angles that the head official can view to determine the proper call; if there is no clear evidence to overturn a call, then the original call stands.

Overall, the system has a past history of success in the NFL. NFL owners approved instant replay for another five years with a 29-3 vote prior to the end of the season. Students in the Nicholls community generally favor instant replay in college football.

“Instant replay would definitely be good for college football,” Jared Price, pre-pharmacy sophomore from Thibodaux, said. “It would stop any controversy that could come up during a game and allow the game to be played more fairly.”

Shane Manning, criminal justice sophomore from Thibodaux, believes the same as Price.

“College football would be more interesting with instant replay,” Manning said. “It would stop a lot of the moaning and groaning that goes on after the referees make a bad call.”

Price was referring to the call in which a Miami player was called for pass interference. The game ended with Ohio State winning the national title and many questions raised about whether the call was the right one to make.

Besides the regular season, instant replay is going to be used for all major bowl games including the Rose Bowl, host of the national championship game this season.

“Replay is definitely needed in bowl games,” Price said. “It could end up making a difference in the game. If they had it in the Miami-Ohio State national championship game a couple years ago then the outcome of that game probably would have been different.”

Although instant replay in I-AA football seems a long way away, some schools in the Southland Conference have already experienced instant replay against I-A schools, according to Colonels head football coach Jay Thomas.

“We really haven’t had any experience with it this season,” Thomas said. “Indiana didn’t have the replay system when we played them earlier, but other teams in the conference had it at least once.”

The only teams in the Southland Conference to experience instant replay this season are Texas State and Sam Houston State. Texas State had instant replay for its game against Texas A&M, while Sam Houston State experienced replay for its game against Texas Tech. Both opponents compete in the Big XII conference.

Instant replay entered college football as part of an experiment. If it has success, chances are it could eventually work its way to Division I-AA, but Thomas is still unsure of his opinion about instant replay.

“I’m still up in the air about it,” Thomas said. “I’m not opposed to it, but I really don’t know enough about it yet to say otherwise.”

In an interview with NCAA News, NCAA associate director of playing rules administration Ty Halpin said anything is possible.

“It may lead to replay being implemented in the Division I-AA, Division II and Division III tournaments,” Halpin said. “It may be a long way off, but it is something those committees want to consider doing as television gets more prevalent.