On the bright side, the referees apparently know the rules.

Beyond that, though, the confusion over the final score of the Utah-USC game last weekend was an embarrassment for the Pac-12 Conference, coming just months after it overhauled an officiating system with — how shall we say it? — an unspectacular reputation.

It took nearly two hours after the Trojans returned a blocked field-goal attempt for a touchdown for the league to properly restore the six points they deserved and give them a 23-14 victory over the Utes at the L.A. Coliseum — and that's only because Trojan radio broadcasters asked the referees about it in the parking lot.

At that point, the referees said they had no idea the touchdown was improperly taken off the scoreboard, according to the Los Angeles Times.

That commenced a series of phone calls that resulted in a clarification by the league that the penalty against the Trojans for unsportsmanlike conduct during the return did not negate the touchdown, because it was called against the players on the sideline who raced onto the field to celebrate. Had the penalty been called against one of the 11 players on the field for the play, the touchdown would not have counted.

Seems simple enough.

But game officials in the press box changed the score back to 17-14 after seeing the penalty flag.

While signaling that the penalty had to be declined by rule — normally, it would be enforced on the subsequent kickoff — the referee did not confirm over the public-address system that the touchdown counted, though the league's director of officiating Tony Corrente said he was not required to do so.

"My assumption is that somebody in the press box had to have misinterpreted the referee's declining signal for the foul to mean that the touchdown was no good," Corrente told the Times.

All of which led to a wild scramble in Las Vegas, where bettors on both sides of the point spread tried to cash tickets — the Utes covering when the score was listed as 17-14, and the Trojans doing so once it was restored to 23-14.

However amusing it might be to imagine the down-on-your-knees scramble for betting slips previously thought to be losers, it's safe to say the Pac-12 dodged a serious bullet on this one. The mix-up did not affect the result of the game, after all.

But it's not hard to imagine a similar scenario with much more serious consequences; envision the same thing happening with the inaugural league title game decided on the final play.

The fallout would be incalculable.

As it stands, the league that Washington coach Steve Sarkisian once called "badly officiated" should be commended for trying to improve it, while Corrente and consultant Mike Pereira deserve praise for their efforts at transparency.

The referees, too, are doing the best they can.

But any league that aspires to have a truly elite officiating program — to go along with its elite profile, elite programs and elite television contract — is going to have to do better than that.

mcl@sltrib.com