Sometimes an official makes a mistake.
But when previously-No. 18 ranked Kansas State lost an obvious defensive touchdown against Vanderbilt, it was an error by a replay official that cost the Wildcats in a 14-7 loss to the Commodores.
It’s hard to understand, but the officiating crew on the field was a crew hired by the Big 12.
The replay official was a SEC employee.
I’ll give you one guess which way the replay went.
The call on the field was obvious. K-State’s Kendall Adams picked up a fumble and dashed into the endone for an apparent 13-7 lead.
Replay is responsible for correcting obvious errors, and generally confirms calls made on the field.
There was no evidence in any replay that indicated the call on the field (a touchdown) should be overturned. The ball was clearly fumbled by Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur.
But the SEC-hired employee overturned the defensive touchdown on the field.
It’s one thing simply missing a call. It’s another whole discussion when a replay official from the SEC can trump what’s called on the field.
How does a conference allow that to happen?
The Big 12 crew on the field had their own issues.
Somehow they turned a blind eye when a Vanderbilt player mockingly congratulating kicker Matthew McCrane after he missed a field goal. That’s typically called taunting. McCrane also missed a game-winning field goal against West Virginia last year, an early turning point for the Wildcats last year.
Wildcat quarterback Jesse Ertz enjoyed a strong first half running the football. But he was indecisive on several throws, including not seeing a wide open Isaiah Harris on a potential game-winning touchdown. Ertz completed 36 percent of his passes.
Wildcat WRs Isaiah Zuber, Dominique Heath, Byron Pringle and Harris performed poorly catching the football.
K-State’s coaches didn’t play to win on offense. Their goal was to avoid mistakes and Ertz was still intercepted twice, once on a tipped ball thrown into triple coverage. K-State declined to throw the ball down the middle and bypassed any quick screen passes.
K-State’s two-minute offense was a horror show. While teams like Oklahoma State and Texas Tech rattle off plays, the Wildcats slow played their way to a loss.
Ertz handled the football on 52 of 63 plays, which is way too predictable. RB Justin Silmon and RB Alex Barnes averaged seven yards, but ran just 11 times. They never established a power running game north-to-south.
The bright spot was the Wildcats’ defense performing admirably. linebacker Trent Tanking played superbly up front with 10 tackles. Reggie Walker, drawing several penalties which were declined. Jayd Birby had eight tackles and D.J. Reed and Denzel Goolsby seven apiece.
My biggest complaint was when K-State declined 10-yard penalty after 10-yard penalty — again coaching not to lose rather than taking advantage of field position.
Oklahoma and Oklahoma State appear to be title contenders. We’ll find out about TCU this week.

Jim Misunas is the Sports Editor for the Great Bend Tribune. He can be reached at jmisunas@gbtribune.com.