college football recap: two weeks of college football in one post!
Well, peeps, because of the Labor Day holiday (and the fact that I was traveling), I did not write last Monday which means today you get two recaps in one post.
Lucky you.
Let's start with last week. I promised you pics from the USC/UVA game and here they are:
Loot from the pre-game rally in DC
The Best Band in the History of the Universe plays for the local alums:
Here's Nicky distracting us from getting ready for the game. I had to tell him several times that pom poms are not for consumption.
Scott Stadium in the first quarter:
Notice the full house of orange.
Scott Stadium after the first quarter (once USC was up by 3 TDs):
I call this photo 'The Great Orange Flight'.
The reason why fans left so early:
The scoreboard speaks the truth. USC 52, UVa 7. Yup, a blood bath. Just as I predicted.
The USC football team showing the fans some love:
The happy (yet incredibly hot, sweaty, and sticky) Trojans!
The post game performance from the USC band:
Yes, that would be the Trojan faithful shouting, "Beat the Buckeyes" at the beginning of the video. We're very forward thinking.
The band was nice enough to escort us back to the parking lots:
What can I say about this game other than UVa was clearly overmatched? Their only score of the game occurred because of USC's defense committing two bonehead penalties. We literally gave them the score. Still, our offense was amazing (not sure what Al Groh was thinking when he decided to just use 3 linemen on USC QB Mark Sanchez) and our defense was just too fast for the Wahoos.
The Hokies were a different story.
Sadly, VT lost their opener to East Carolina, who just so happened to be named this season's Cinderella story after also beating #8 WVU. Why did the Hokies lose? Well, maybe because most of their starters had never played a college game before. Or maybe because the offense still hasn't gotten it together. Or maybe it was Sean Glennon starting his season with an intercepted pass FOR THE SECOND SEASON IN A ROW. WTF, Beamer. You redshirted Tyrod Taylor for this?
Sometime between the first and second weekend of college football, USC jumped 3 spots and became the new #1. I'd like to thank UVa for playing like a 1-AA team instead of a team from a BCS conference. Apparently opening the season with an opponent from a BCS conference instead of a cupcake team like Youngstown State earns you some brownie points with voters. Still, a #1 ranking now doesn't matter. What matters is being #1 at the very end.
The most surprising game this weekend was Washington vs. BYU. A last minute comeback was thwarted when an official called an excessive celebration penalty on QB Jake Locker, who ran a couple of yards to get the supposed-game tying touchdown. There was no penalty there. Jake tossed the ball away in order to celebrate the impressive TD drive with his teammates and a flag was thrown. Instead of taking the penalty on the kickoff, the yardage was added to the point after attempt. Apparently the drama got to the kicker whose kick was then blocked by the BYU defense. Ugh. Very poor officiating in my opinion and the Pac-10 ref who made the call should be fined or something. Just let the boys play, dude. Who knows what would've happened had there been an OT?
In Hokie news, Virginia Tech played Furhman (sp? also, mascot?) and won, naturally. Glennon and Taylor shared playing time. Woo hoo!
USC rested this past weekend and should be in top form for the Ohio State game this weekend. Fight on, b*tches! Bring on the Buckeyes!
4 comments:
From Rule 9-2 in the 2008 NCAA FB Rule Book under Unsportsmanlike Acts...
2. After a score or any other play, the player in possession immediately must return the ball to an official or leave it near the dead-ball spot.
This prohibits:
(a) Kicking, throwing, spinning or carrying (including off of the
field) the ball any distance that requires an official to retrieve it.
(b) Spiking the ball to the ground [Exception: A forward pass to
conserve time (Rule 7-3-2-d)].
(c) Throwing the ball high into the air.
(d) Any other unsportsmanlike act or actions that delay the game.
The official who flagged this act should be commended for having the balls to make that call. A lot of officials would not have. I hope I would if in the same situation.
The PAC-10 coordinator of football officials backed up his official today in saying it was the correct call.
j fitty: i would've expected you to defend glennon, not the pac 10 official from the U-dub/BYU game. huh. i'm thrown, j fitty.
anyhoo, yes, silly, i actually do know the rule. however, locker just threw the ball behind him over his head so he could celebrate with his teammates. he didn't throw it 'high into the air.' was he supposed to hold on to it while embracing his teammates? was he supposed to throw it down and be accused of spiking it?
also, did the official really have to tag the penalty to the point after kick instead of the kick off? he should've just added it to the kick off distance like most officials do with this call.
It really does not matter how or why the QB threw the ball (and he did throw it at least 20 feet into the air, which that official deemed "high). He should have just dropped the ball, or found an official to give the ball to. He could have even thrown the ball to an official. You hate to take the emotion out of the game, but that is what some of these rules (which the coaches write) have done. We (which I say because I am a HS and college FB official) just enforce the rules. We don't write them. With sportsmanship being a point of emphasis this season in NCAA football (see this video http://web1.ncaa.org/web_video/football/2008FootballRules.html) the official really had no choice. There are less obscene "offenses" in the video that the National Coordinator of Football Officials deems unsprtsmanlike conduct. If he does not throw the flag, he gets dinged and possibly loses his shot at a bowl game, and the BYU coach would be the one complaining about a no-call. Unfortunately us officials can never make both teams happy.
As far as the enforcement of the penalty...BYU had a choice. They could have had the penalty enforced from the succeeding spot (the extra point), or on the kickoff. They decided it was in their best interest to enforce it on the extra point, which ended up being a smart decision.
In most circumstances like this, or fouls by the defense on scoring plays, they get a similar choice on whether to enforce on the extra point or the kickoff.
And Glennon...I have not seen him play yet this season, so I am withholding judgement until Saturday. From what I have read though, it sounds like a mobile QB is a must with VT's porous (SP?) o-line.
j fitty: BYU made the choice? well, then, they did the right thing for them. clearly, the choice unnerved the husky kicker.
i did not know you were a ref. thanks for schooling me on officiating. it's certainly a perspective seldom heard.
so you're going to the GA Tech game? i'll be there as well. can't wait to see taylor play.
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