Interminable Army-Navy review took almost 8 minutes, all told

One of the sport’s most routinely quick games was suddenly anything but quick.

Almost nothing in life is literally endless. A review after the first play of the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Army-Navy game did eventually end. But it felt like it never would, and I suppose it will now live on in our hearts as one of football’s most memorable long reviews ever.

Army had a 10-0 lead entering the final quarter against its historic rival. The Black Knights faced fourth-and-2 at the Midshipmen’s 43-yard line. Army coach Jeff Monken loves going for it on fourth down, in part because his team’s great at it (an incredible 30-of-33 entering this game). So, the Knights went for it again and appeared to get it.

You can watch the next nine minutes or so here:

Quarterback Kelvin Hopkins Jr. ran a standard flexbone speed option with a trailing pitch man. He decided to keep the ball and plunge forward, and he looked like he had it. But, obviously, the game’s officiating crew immediately went upstairs for a video check.

This kicked off a process that took approximately forever, according to my review of game footage. Let’s run through this magical journey together.

The video review took six minutes or so, during which time CBS analyst Gary Danielson Zaprudered the spot over and over.

Was this angle definitive?

This one?

No, of course not. There was no definitive angle that could tell us anything for sure, as there so often isn’t, despite there being a zillion cameras inside these stadiums each week.

Eventually, the referee announced they were going to re-spot the ball, then use the chains to measure it.

The crew gathered ‘round and moved the ball back a little bit. Did they move it back exactly the right amount? Probably not, because these are human beings standing on an actual field. It’s not like they were able to look at the video and then drag and drop.

The chain gang had already moved upfield, thinking that Army had notched a first down. So those heroic folks had to run back to roughly where Hopkins went down, then go measure.

And at one point, a few officials referred to this handy dandy piece of paper:

When the chains finally got out to the middle of the field, the officials determined that Hopkins was short. Navy took over on downs.

That process was about another two minutes. A little less, I think.

The Mids then drove down inside Army’s 10, threatening to score their first points of the game. But QB Garret Lewis fumbled, which felt like the fitting thing after that review.