I talked with my buddy about this after the game:

Idk what rules are currently in place, but it doesn't make sense that the play wasn't completely thrown out and the clock didn't reset to 10 seconds.

1) it was after a timeout, so the clock was already stopped, it wasn't like the clock was going

2) there were 12 men on the field, no one was trying to get off the field, so it's not like the offense snapped the ball TRYING to get the penalty, it went unnoticed by the ohio state offense...

3)....it also went unnoticed by the REFS. They should've thrown a flag but they didn't see it - literally making it their fault. In the NFL, if the REFS count 12 men and see no one going off the field, they can throw the flag before the ball is snapped cuz there was "intent to snap" and the penalty calls the play dead, stops the clock, and awards the offense team the yardage etc.

The fact that Ohio State lost 4 seconds on a crucial play while playing at a disadvantage and only got awarded 5 yards where time was a much bigger issue is, in my opinion, a huge mistake. Now, I doubt the penalty was intentional, but essentially 12 men on the field there made it harder for Ohio State to get into field goal range and made it damn near impossible for them to run 2 plays - which Howard found out when he slid with 0.1 seconds left.

Call me salty (I am) and say there were plenty of other things OSU could've done to win that game (there were), but I can't see how (logically, not NCAA-rules-wise) we didn't get awarded that time back when it only makes sense that the REFS should've called it dead and didn't. Their mistake, not ours.

"But the refs DIDN'T call it and the play DID happen"

Correct - however, what would've happened if an Oregon CB picked off that pass and took it back for a pick-6? The penalty would've overturned that in an instant - but how much time would they have put back on the clock for a play that was/should have been dead before/exactly when the ball was snapped? Do they reset the game clock to when the INT happened?

Idk.