“Really bad”: Joel Klatt calls out officiating standards of college football after Week 7 games

The 2024 college football season has been a thrilling one so far with upsets aplenty but one aspect has brought the buzz down. Several coaches and analysts have complained about the inconsistent officiating that has been rampant this season and calls are getting louder after Week 7 action.

On Sunday, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt added his voice to the growing frustration with officiating calls with a tweet on X.

"Generally speaking the officiating in CFB is really bad...very little consistency across the board. Having a national officiating body rather than each conference having their own would be a good start to fixing the problem," Klatt tweeted.

Klatt further elaborated on the poor calls that littered Week 7 of college football action after a fan accused him of only focusing on poor officiating due to the non-call in the Colorado Buffaloes thrilling 31-28 loss against the Kansas State Wildcats.

"and the - missed PI in the USC - bad OPI in Ohio State - non-review in Ohio State on first series - bad targeting no call on Miami vs Cal etc...etc...etc...," Klatt tweeted.

College football officiating criticized by coaches and analysts

In Week 3 of college football, after the Pittsburgh Panthers beat the West Virginia Mountaineers 38-34, Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi was livid with the officiating during the game calling it out during his postgame news conference. For his comments, the ACC penalized the Pitt coach $5,000.

"Some of the calls we got -- late hit out of bounds, they catch a ball with a hand in the face and I've never seen anything like it, you know? Wow. We beat West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl, and we beat the officials, too, in one game," Narduzzi said.

The complaints did not stop there with outspoken Georgia Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart complaining about the officiating after his team's narrow 13-12 win over the Kentucky Wildcats in Week 3 action.

"I watched games today and it was like, crazy, we're higher than we've been (with penalties), I watch all these games and they're higher than they've ever been," Smart said during his postgame press conference.

"I'm like what's going on? We've been a low-penalty, smart team and I can't figure it out. I don't know if it's the way it's being called, is it being called tighter, because everybody's got more. We've got to reel it in some."

As the season progresses and the controversial calls by officials continue every weekend of college football, the spotlight will shine brighter on the officials as the margins for games become tighter.