James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti didn’t even need the referees to consult an official video review — the evidence was already prepared for them on a cell phone.
While pleading with officials that Utah State’s kicker had stepped out of bounds en route to a touchdown in the Dukes-Aggies game Saturday, a James Madison staffer handed Cignetti a phone and the 62-year-old coach proceeded to show it to the referees.
The officials weren’t thrilled, though, and handed the phone back to the staffer and directed him toward the Dukes’ bench.
The broadcast crew calling the game noted that the move by the James Madison staffer — using a phone in that scenario from the sidelines — was “illegal.”
“You can’t use that,” one broadcaster said. “You can’t use that. That is illegal from the minute the replay has started. You can’t do that.”
The play that prompted the James Madison frustration occurred in the second quarter of the Dukes’ 45-38 victory, when Aggies kicker Elliott Nimrod collected a pass from his holder and raced 18 yards for a touchdown instead of attempting a 35-yard field goal.
Cignetti appeared to think that Nimrod stepped out of bounds along the right sideline after breaking one tackle.
It was the spark Utah State needed.
The Aggies already trailed, 24-0, and James Madison added another 14 points before halftime too en route to a 38-17 lead entering the half.
But the Aggies strung together 21 consecutive points in the second half, and it took a 74-yard pass from James Madison with a little less than six minutes remaining to secure its fourth consecutive victory to open the season.
Perhaps the most memorable moment from that victory, though, occurred two quarters before the game-winning touchdown, a reaction that didn’t even account for a portion of the 1,012 combined yards of offense.
All it took was Cignetti — the brother of Frank Cignetti, the University of Pittsburgh’s offensive coordinator and an ex-NFL assistant — and a phone to attract some of the spotlight.
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