Finalists fond of replay

Instant replay wasn't a deciding factor in Friday night's NCAA Division I football national championship game at Finley Stadium, but the review system played a role in who made it to Chattanooga.

Villanova might not have advanced to Friday night's game against Montana if it weren't for instant replay, which is only used in the final two rounds of the playoffs.

In the Wildcats' 14-13 semifinal win over William & Mary, Villanova trailed 13-7 when quarterback Chris Whitney passed to Brandyn Harvey on the left sideline on third-and-7 for a 16-yard gain.

However, the sideline official ruled the pass incomplete, motioning that Harvey was out of bounds, which would have made it fourth down at the Tribe 22-yard line. But after a lengthy review, the call was overturned and Villanova had a first down at the 6. Four plays later, Whitney ran the ball in from the 1.

"I think replay's good for college football," Whitney said. "Plays like that, especially. That could have been the difference in the game."

The Harvey catch was one of numerous plays that the replay officials took a long look at during Villanova's semifinal, and there also were several in Montana's 24-17 win over Appalachian State.

No calls were overturned in the Grizzlies' semifinal, but there were some tense moments as the coaches and players waited to hear final rulings. One wait was after Montana quarterback Andrew Selle hit Javon Sambrano for a 25-yard touchdown on first-and-20 at the ASU 25 late in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 17.

"It was real nerve-racking, that touchdown to Jabin," Selle said. "They called it a touchdown on the field and you get excited, but then you're taken back a second because you know they could review the play and overturn it."

Both Montana coach Bobby Hauck and Villanova coach Andy Talley said they were very much in favor of using instant replay because the most important thing is to get the calls right. Both coaches also said they'd like to see it used throughout the playoffs, not just in the final two rounds.

"All the rounds are critical," Talley said.

The problem in the first round, just like in the regular season, is coverage. Most first-round games aren't televised, so there's no way to get all the sideline and up-close angles needed for a review system to be effective. Because ESPN now broadcasts all the quarterfinal games on ESPN360.com, replay may be implemented in that round, NCAA director of baseball and football Damani Leech said.

"The first round is not likely," Leech said, "but the quarterfinals might be possible because in the current format ESPN is broadcasting all of the games and producing them the same way, with the same number of cameras."

Hauck said he isn't bothered by the delays that are sometimes created by the replays, even though they can interrupt the flow of the game.

"For us, we can just go to work," he said. "We don't mind having a little extra time to dial it up on the sideline."