Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders avoided an ejection for shoving the referee in the second half of No. 16 Colorado’s 37-21 loss to Kansas.
Officials appeared to miss Sanders shoving the referee in the midst of a tussle between Colorado and Kansas players. Sanders took issue with Kansas defenders after a sack as he took some contact after the play and officials had to break the scrum up.
Making forcible contact with an official is a personal foul penalty and an ejection. As you can see, the referee did not see Sanders push him in the middle of the scrum. No penalties were assessed after the play.
One of the players who had tackled Sanders on the play was defensive end Dean Miller. In the first half, Sanders got taken out at the knees by Miller after he scrambled around for a long time and fired an incomplete pass toward Will Sheppard. Take a look at the hit, which was questionable at best and dirty at worst.
A flag was thrown on the play, but officials quickly said that Miller’s hit was not roughing the passer and Colorado was instead flagged for having an offensive lineman down the field when Sanders threw the ball.
The QB went to the sideline after the hit but immediately returned to the game and didn’t miss a play.
The loss means Colorado (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) now needs help to make the Big 12 title game. Thanks to losses to both Kansas and Kansas State, Colorado needs to beat Oklahoma State and have two of Arizona State, BYU and Iowa State lose before the end of the regular season.
