Big 12 official who led crew of Texas-OSU debacle now off to the NFL

After the embarrassingly inept performance of the Big 12 officiating crew led by Alan Eck during the game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns last season, Eck is now off to the NFL to serve as a side judge after the league reassigned the crew of Pete Morrelli for the same type of incompetence that Eck's crew showcased last season.

One of the most egregious calls was a defensive holding call on Texas defensive tackle Poona Ford, a call that was not only difficult, if not impossible, to pick up on replay, but also a call that happens on only .13 percent of all run plays in college football since 2010 -- that's 61 times over the course of more than 49,000 penalties called in FBS games over that period of time.

Then there was the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty thrown on Longhorns head coach Charlie Strong by a line judge late in the game that helped the Cowboys move into field goal range to tie the game with the clock ticking down.

All in all, 11 of the 16 penalties against Texas were judgment calls rather than procedural penalties, prompting further concerns about Eck's officiating. And even though it's an extremely small sample size, Eck's crew left that game having thrown 27 flags against Texas in two games compared to only 10 for opponents, well above average of 5.6 flags thrown by other crews against the 'Horns during Big 12 games in Strong's tenure.

After reviewing the game, Big 12 supervisor of officials Walt Anderson had to admit that things didn't go so well.

"There were a lot of things that did happen in the game," Anderson told the Dallas Morning News Monday.

"It was a tough game to work from an officiating standpoint. Overall, I was pleased with the way the guys worked. Three were a few mistakes -- and I emphasize a few -- and you want to learn from them."

FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt went even further, calling it the worst-officiated games he'd seen in 10 games and lobbying for Eck's crew to receive a suspension.

Alberto Riveron is the senior director of officiating for the NFL and he'll probably get to know Eck a little more closely than he wants to in the near future. But at least Eck isn't Texas' problem any more. Let's hope it stays that way.