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• Yesterday my Twitter feed was abuzz with a GIF posted concerning Gerard Wicks first-down run from the 4-yard line against California in the final minute of WSU's loss. The series of pictures show Wicks' final lunge to the end zone and his seemingly successful attempt to get the nose of the ball over the goal line before his left knee hits down. Any Cougar fan watching the GIF would probably be apoplectic seconds after it was over. It shows somewhat clearly Wicks was successful. The play probably was a touchdown. The Cougs should have led 65-60 (even if the extra point was missed) and California should have been facing a long field and less than a minute to traverse it. But not only wasn't the play ruled a touchdown in real time, it wasn't even reviewed, a circumstance we will touch on in a minute. But back to the missed score. We all know that officiating college football isn't easy. Seven guys try to adjudicate nearly 200 plays featuring 22 young, fast, talented men. It's always been tough and now is even tougher with the emergence of no-huddle, a-play-ever-15-seconds offenses. So the officials have been given more tools, an eye in the sky that helps on tough calls. Still, it seems as if more calls are missed than ever before. It's probably just an incorrect perception, but as an old mentor told me more than 30 years ago, perception is reality to the person perceiving it (though he was a little more succinct and profane). The perception is, around here, the Pac-12 has more problems than anyone else. And many of them occur in Pullman. Just a couple weeks ago the Cougars had a chance to upset then No. 2 Oregon. But an obvious pass interference call on their final drive was missed, costing WSU a last chance to tie what was, up to that point, anyone's game. If it had been called, it was still only 50/50 Washington State would have won, but boy the final minute would have been fun. Saturday night's screw up wasn't as obvious on TV, but it was more damaging. If the call had been made correctly, the chances of WSU winning were probably somewhere in the high 90-percent range. Of course the Cougars would have had to kickoff and the Bears had already run two back for touchdowns – helping to cost special teams coordinator Erik Russell his job Sunday – so the score wouldn't have made it a certainty. Yet I'm sure Mike Leach and his team would have liked to face that scenario instead of the one they ultimately ended up with, a 60-59 defeat. Should WSU have won anyway? Yes. A 19-yard field goal, bad angle or not, shouldn't be messed up. It was. But only after seven other guys – and a couple more in the replay booth – fumbled their chance.

• I tried to make contact with WSU athletic director Bill Moos yesterday. I wondered if the Pac-12 powers that be had issued the usual apology to the Cougars concerning the play. But I was told he was at conference meetings and would be busy all day. He didn't return my call. Now I wish I had just been able to attend the meetings. Late last night the conference sent out a release saying coordinator of football officiating Tony Corrente had resigned, citing personal and professional reasons. If you were unaware, Corrente (pictured) has battled throat and tongue cancer, starting in 2012, and still oversaw the Pac-12 officials as well as continuing to serve as an NFL referee. The resignation may have been totally voluntary but, coming as it did in the middle of a muddled season, it's hard to believe that's completely true. Jon Wilner of the Mercury News immediately tweeted he was told by a source the resignation caught the conference by surprise, that it was happy with his work. Then Dave "Softy" Mahler, a radio host in Seattle who is well connected with UW, tweeted a source told him Corrente resigned because he was fed up with the conference blaming officials for recent defeats by Oregon, UCLA and Stanford. (If it had just been WSU, then, it would have been OK?) So believe what you will. Whatever, Jim Blackwood, who oversaw the replay officials, is now the interim coordinator.

• Which brings us full circle. Sometimes I wonder why there is replay at all. Saturday night, the myriad stoppages to review mundane plays helped push the game time to more than four hours. Yet, the one play that really needed to be reviewed wasn't. There are many reasons for that, including how quickly the Cougars snapped the ball for their next play – remember, the clock was winding down – but still, the lack of review on such a crucial play seems to invalidate the whole process. That could just be me, of course, but I'm sure it's a thought that's entered into a lot of fans' minds. After all, you sit and watch a game, investing a quarter of your waking hours in a day and you have to trust a system that is in place to "get it right." When it works as well as a 1974 Vega, you begin to lose faith in the people overseeing it.

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• WSU: OK, back to the real world. Jacob Thorpe, who took a bite out of a bagel last week in his Pac-12 picks, has a feature today on the next NFL receiver from WSU, Vince Mayle (pictured). ... Jacob also held a live chat yesterday, posted a practice report last night and has a post this morning with links. ... No one at ESPN.com's Pac-12 blog thinks the Cougars will defeat Stanford. I do. ... The site also has a mailbag as well as a look at the conference's underrated players, including a Coug. ... Wilner has his power rankings. ... Finally, former WSU defensive back Tyron Brackenridge is still heating it up in Canada (I had the name wrong earlier, but it's fixed now).

• EWU: A pretty full day of Eagle news as well, with Jim Allen presenting his weekly Big Sky notebook as well as a look at the Eastern men's basketball team as practice begins. ... Jim also has a morning post with links.

• Idaho: Things don't get an easier for the Vandals this week as they have to travel to Georgia to face Georgia Southern. John Blanchette lays out the depth of the challenge in this blog post. ... The Vandal women had a successful golf trip.

• Preps: It's Thursday which means it is Prep Page day in the newspaper. Greg Lee has a column to kick it all off and he follows up with his Pick Six with SWX's Sam Adams. ... Greg also has a feature on two Lake City cross country runners (pictured). ... Jim Allen covered a key GSL soccer match yesterday, part of this roundup. ... Finally, Bill Pierce adds his historical perspective.

• Seahawks: The NFL season is a long grind, with depth playing a key factor in who emerges at the end. The Hawks' depth is being tested right now, especially on the offensive line. Russell Okung is not completely healthy yet and now center Max Unger (pictured, No. 60) is hobbled by a sprained foot. The latter injury forced Seattle to make a roster change yesterday, signing a backup offensive lineman and letting a defensive back go. ... Pete Carroll talked about all of that yesterday. ... Richard Sherman also spoke and, as usual, was interesting. ... The Cowboys running game will test the Hawks up front.

• Mariners: Ryan Divish has some notes on a slow offseason day.

• Sounders: If you want to attend the Sounders' first home playoff game, clear Nov. 10 on your calendar. Yes, I know it's a Monday. The team is doing that so the field will be clear of football markings. ... A couple of Sounders from Africa are volunteering their time in the fight against Ebola. ... Professional soccer beckons, but so does a Stanford degree. ... Seattle is tied with the LA Galaxy atop the MLS standings but trail them in this power ranking.

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• It's a busy day sports-wise, especially for a Thursday. There is playoff baseball, college football, NFL, high school. You name it, it's happening. Until later ...