Miami of Ohio penalized for Patriots-style video board trickery on field goal attempt

NBC Sports • November 11, 2026 • sports

Key Points:

Miami of Ohio was penalized for displaying images of goal posts on its video board to confuse an opposing kicker, which is deemed unsportsmanlike conduct in college football.
The incident occurred just before halftime during a game against Ohio, resulting in a penalty of half the distance to the goal and an automatic first down for Ohio.
Miami's head coach Chuck Martin expressed surprise at the penalty, indicating a lack of awareness about the rule prohibiting such video board tactics.
Despite the penalty, Miami won the game 34-17, and the infraction did not affect the final outcome.
The incident highlights that, unlike the NFL where the tactic was banned after being legal, college football explicitly prohibits using video boards to create optical illusions aimed at kickers.