Admittedly I didn't watch much of the LSU-Clemson game last night, but two of three articles on MSN regarding the game today were not about how great the game was, but instead about the targeting and offensive pass interference calls against Clemson, and whether they were fair. Obviously the same was the case with OSU-Clemson, when I can't remember ever watching a game where I felt more sick to my stomach about the level of involvement of referees in the outcome of a game. Almost every article I saw the next day was a take on those calls.

This thread isn't meant to bemoan those games, but more to ask a genuine question of the older fans who've been watching college football for much longer than me (I know there many of you here): has refereeing always been an issue the way it was this year? Specifically I mean, it feels like the referees have more to control games with the video reviews, increase of targeting calls, the "indisputable evidence" (which means different things to different referees). Or am I just idealizing the way "college football was"? I feel like I'm losing some interest in college football because of how involved it feels like referees have become in determining the outcome of close games. On the other hand, though, surely there've always been bad calls that made a difference in big games. But is it more the case these days because of instant replay?