Texas Tech AD raises concerns over integrity of headset communications, asks Big 12 to review two recent games

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USATSI

Texas Tech has asked the Big 12 for a report on two recent games to ensure a flaw in college football’s new helmet communications system didn’t include the results, ESPN reports. The school is asking the league to review its 59-35 loss to Baylor on Oct. 19 and its 35-34 loss to TCU last Saturday.

The request comes amid concerns that opponents may have been able to access unencrypted frequencies to listen to communications between coach and player.

“We have to have a game that is in no way questionable in its integrity on a Saturday afternoon,” Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt told ESPN. “We owe it to the 120 young men on our football team to ensure that this happens, that it is a fair competitive game and that the same rules are applied.”

A glitch in the technology teams use for pre-talk was first discovered before a game between Texas A&M and Arkansas in September, according to the Athletic. As a result, Big 12 schools have been instructed to send in their headset communications systems for a software update before this weekend’s games, ESPN reports.

THE NCAA approved implementing on-helmet coach-player communications in April, paving the way for advance conversations that mirror what is allowed in the NFL. Coaches are authorized to communicate with a player, identified by a green dot on the back of their helmet. This line of communication is deactivated 15 seconds from the end of the game clock or when the ball is recovered, whichever comes first.

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