No one had a worse Orange Bowl than the game clock operator

Referees constantly had to stop the game during Notre Dame’s 27-24 win over Penn State to tell the clock operator to correctly adjust the clock, with that individual seemingly forgetting to stop the game timer so the chain gang could move forward on first downs.

While the Nittany Lions were running a hurry-up offense, the referee had to stop the momentum to tell the clock operator to add time back on, as it wasn’t correctly stopped after the first down.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON WITH THE CLOCK#PMSCFPESPN2 pic.twitter.com/2KZhNfqzeI

The Orange Bowl looked like a spring game for the clock operator.

“Notre Dame had a first down. Game clock operator, please rest the game clock to one minute, twenty six seconds. Following a first down, we stop the clock under two minutes,” the referee said in a sequence aired on the national broadcast with the score tied at 24 in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

“Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter on the sideline also wondering what is going on with the clock,” McAfee added. “This is unbelievable. I can’t believe it.”

Notre Dame overcame a 10-0 deficit to advance to the title game, while Penn State went home wondering what went wrong in the defeat as the clock hit zero on their season.

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