The Minnesota Golden Gophers and Auburn Tigers delivered a thrilling, back-and-forth first half in the Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day, but a blunder by ESPN caused fans to miss the start of a key 4th-and-goal play that resulted in a Minnesota touchdown.
With the game tied 10-10 in the second quarter, the Golden Gophers put together an epic drive from their own 8-yard line to the Auburn goal line, but multiple goal-line reviews caused delays on the broadcast. The plays on both 2nd and 3rd down needed to be checked by officials, and after the refs determined that Minnesota did not get into the endzone on 3rd down, the Golden Gophers called a timeout. ESPN went to a quick commercial break – but the broadcast eventually resumed with Minnesota’s Bryce Witham holding the ball in the endzone after catching a touchdown pass.
