ESPN College Football

NORMAN, Okla. -- University of Oklahoma President David Boren says that it's time for the Sooners and their fans to move on after a controversial loss at Oregon, but that efforts to deal with officiating issues apparent in that game should continue.

"We can put the game behind us," Boren said Friday, after an announcement of a $1 million donation to OU's College of Earth and Energy. "But we shouldn't put behind what we can learn from this, and I think what we can learn from it is that we need more neutrality when [teams from different] conferences play each other. We need not only actual neutrality, we need the perception of neutrality."

Forde takes on Boren

The Dash understands why Sooner Nation lost its collective mind after the officiating fiasco at the end of the Oregon game, which was won by the Ducks 34-33. The non-call on the onside kick stunk. The inept review of the call was worse. The Pac-10's one-game suspension of the offending officials was completely justified. But the Oklahoma reaction has become an overreaction. In fact, it has transitioned from righteous indignation to outright insanity. To read more from Pat Forde, click here.

Those involved with the OU football program, as well as fans, spent much of the past week complaining about acknowledged blown calls late in last Saturday's game that turned an all-but-certain Oklahoma win into a 34-33 loss to the Ducks in Eugene, Ore.

At the center of the dispute was a wrong call on an onside kickoff that led to Oregon's winning touchdown in the final minute. Replays showed that the onside kickoff was touched by an Oregon player before it traveled the required 10 yards, and, therefore, possession should have been awarded to Oklahoma.

The video also shows an Oklahoma player actually recovered the ball, although that aspect of the play was not reviewable under the instant replay rule.

Two days after the game, Boren sent a letter to Big 12 Commissioner Kevin Weiberg, saying the officiating problems were beyond an "outrageous injustice," and asking him to pursue having the game eliminated from the record books and having the officials involved in the game suspended for the remainder of the season.

Weiberg responded with a statement saying the result of the game would stand.

Boren also asked for an apology from the Pacific-10 Conference and called for the conference to change its policy that requires only Pac-10 officials be used for nonconference home games.

Shortly after Boren released his letter to the public, Pac-10 Commissioner Tom Hansen issued a statement that noted that "errors clearly were made and not corrected" and that "it is regrettable that the outcome of the contest was affected by officiating." The statement also included an apology to OU, coach Bob Stoops and OU players and noted that the league would suspend the officials responsible for one game.

The replay official, Gordon Riese, requested and was granted a leave of absence for the remainder of the season from the Pac-10.

Boren said that when the season ends, the commissioners from NCAA Division I-A conferences need to meet to discuss officiating issues, including the instant replay system.

"We don't need to carry on an argument about it. It's not any argument between OU and Oregon," Boren said. "But what needs to happen ... is to say, what can we learn from this? It should be a learning opportunity. What we've learned is, it's very important to the integrity of intercollegiate athletics that you not only have fair officiating, but that everyone perceives it as fair. The perception of fairness is very important."

Boren suggested that for inter-conference games, officials from neutral conferences should be used, as they are in bowl games.

Boren said he holds no animosity toward Oregon.

"All they did was go out and play well in the football game," Boren said.

Boren has received criticism from media members outside Oklahoma for his letter. One columnist, Pat Forde of ESPN.com, said Boren's actions "make you wonder whether he isn't actually the booster club president instead of the guy running an institution of higher learning," called the letter "embarrassing on multiple levels" and said Boren had an "inexcusable breakdown in perspective."

Boren said he spends "about one percent" of his time on athletics and that such criticism is unjustified.

"I wish the same reporters would report our No. 1 ranking in National Merit Scholars," Boren said. "I wish that they'd report that we just moved to second in the Big 12 [in faculty salaries]. I'd say [that criticism] is just because people haven't been watching, if they don't think we put academics first. We obviously do."

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press