Offensive pass interference is not the same as defensive pass interference. Here's a comparison:
Four types of OPI, the first three are the most familiar/common, #4 is what OC did Saturday:
1. Pushing-off for separation
2. Going through an established defender to get to the ball
3. Holding the defender or pulling on the defender to accelerate past him (slingshot)
4. Blocking downfield before the pass crosses the line of scrimmage
Six types of DPI (just for comparison):
1. Making contact with the receiver without playing the ball
2. Playing through an established receiver
3. Holding/slingshot
4. Arm bars
5. Bumping receiver off pattern outside the contact zone (5 yds from LOS in NFL, before ball is thrown in NCAA)
6. Hooking/turning the receiver's body (pretty much #3, but you don't necessarily have to hold him to do it)
If you can learn these ten violations, you will be light-years ahead of most commentators and pundits who hear PI and think "contact." Contact, jostling, handfighting, etc. are all legitimate as long as you don't violate one of the ten no-no's. You'll notice that holding a receiver/defender is not a penalty in and of itself. You need something more to put it over the edge. The arm bar is significant as well---a receiver can have his hand/arm on a defender the entire route to feel where the defender is while he is looking for the ball. If the defender tries to feel the receiver for more than a moment or two, arm-bar and a flag.
This is part of what made Collie a fantastic receiver and allowed him to gain so much separation--he understood the rules and the limits and made them work for him. Problem was that the MWC refs apparently don't know much more than the MWC announcers.
