Locker's "celebration" was more than a toss or flip
I just got near a television for the first time since I left Husky Stadium, flipped on ESPN and there's college football analyst Mark May calling the ruling on Jake Locker's celebration at the end of the BYU-Washington game "horrible" and "inexcusable."
Other TV announcers are having a hey day with the call, too.
I've got no problem with that -- it's their opinion.
Couple of things, though.
I was standing about 15 feet away from Locker when he scored the touchdown, and to say that he merely flipped the football in the air, or tossed it over his shoulder, is inaccurate.
The television replays I've seen don't show it, but unless my eyes were deceiving me, it got some pretty serious altitude.
He threw it 25-30 feet in the air with sort of a rolling-the-wrist motion that caused the ball to spiral. He threw it high enough that I instinctively thought to myself, "He could get flagged for that," and I glanced toward the nearest official.
Also, announcers on the highlight shows are saying the ruling kept the game from going into overtime.
Well, not exactly.
The blocked PAT -- regardless of the length -- kept the game from going into overtime.
I'm not sure the kick would have made it from the normal extra-point length. It was low, and the player whose arm it hit, BYU's Jan Jorgensen, said he broke through the line so fast that he's not sure his arm was even raised when the ball hit it.
Did Ryan Perkins change the trajectory of the kick because he was 15 yards farther away than normal? Only Perkins knows for sure, but I can't imagine it would make that much of a difference. A kick from 40-50 yards away, maybe so.
Yes, the Cougars got a break today on that particular call. But to say it altered the outcome of the game -- that's a stretch.
Other TV announcers are having a hey day with the call, too.
I've got no problem with that -- it's their opinion.
Couple of things, though.
I was standing about 15 feet away from Locker when he scored the touchdown, and to say that he merely flipped the football in the air, or tossed it over his shoulder, is inaccurate.
The television replays I've seen don't show it, but unless my eyes were deceiving me, it got some pretty serious altitude.
He threw it 25-30 feet in the air with sort of a rolling-the-wrist motion that caused the ball to spiral. He threw it high enough that I instinctively thought to myself, "He could get flagged for that," and I glanced toward the nearest official.
Also, announcers on the highlight shows are saying the ruling kept the game from going into overtime.
Well, not exactly.
The blocked PAT -- regardless of the length -- kept the game from going into overtime.
I'm not sure the kick would have made it from the normal extra-point length. It was low, and the player whose arm it hit, BYU's Jan Jorgensen, said he broke through the line so fast that he's not sure his arm was even raised when the ball hit it.
Did Ryan Perkins change the trajectory of the kick because he was 15 yards farther away than normal? Only Perkins knows for sure, but I can't imagine it would make that much of a difference. A kick from 40-50 yards away, maybe so.
Yes, the Cougars got a break today on that particular call. But to say it altered the outcome of the game -- that's a stretch.
10:27 PM
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15 Comments:
Drew. i think you're thoughts are dead-on regarding this.
For whatever reason ESPN and FSN are giving very little credit to BYU for winning and a laying a lot of blame on the refs for 'costing UW the game'.
I think there's a story brewing in the coverage from the national media ... it's pretty unreasonable. Mark May saying many times that Locker just 'flipped the ball over his shoulder.' Lou Holtz saying he just 'raised his hands and the ball flew out on accident.'
Hopefully someone will keep ESPN in check.
Here is video footage that shows the time the ball was in the air.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbgOF71ORiw
Here is video footage that shows it going off the screen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6Kn0dkbyY
Clearly not your typical "flick over the back".
Here's a great picture of the block:
http://www.cougarboard.com/noframes/message.html?id=4000116
It looks like Jan simply broke through (in spite of an ineffectual hold on his jersey) and that he would have easily blocked the kick no matter where on the field it had occurred.
There is a problem with these guys and their opinions.
90% of voters in both polls will not watch this game because it is impossible to watch every team play. These people get their information from places like ESPN. ESPN pushing this lie that all Locker did was drop the ball over his shoulder and that it cost them the game will be all most of these voters will hear.
This will cause BYU to drop in the rankings, hurting their long-term BCS chances, especially with East Carolina's win over the alleged 8th best team in the country.
ESPN's lies also further their agenda of promoting conferences that have contracts with ESPN and bagging on the Mountain West.
As you can see, there potentially is a lot of harm done by Mark May's and Lou Holtz's alleged opinions.
Good to hear someone else shared the same thought as I on the play.
What kills me about this whole thing is the amount of whining that is coming out of the major sports networks over this. It's sad that players reputations hinge how they act both during and after the game. Disparaging comments towards officials has traditionally been frowned upon by society. Why do the media not need to be held to the same standard. Is it not becoming obvious by their treatment of BYU in their picks this week that ESPN is extremely motivated to get BYU removed from the BCS picture as early as possible even if that means introducing as much bias as possible for the voters. Lets hope those individuals see this game for what it was (a victory on the road in a hard fought game) and award BYU accordingly.
Drew,
To put it bluntly, you're comments are absolutely moronic. If you want to say that it was the correct "rule book" call, than so be it. But to seriously sit here and act like it didn't help determine the outcome, or that it was the right way for a game to end is laughable.
The reason everyone has a problem with it is because both teams played their butts off, and an official majorly assisted in determining an outcome.
ESPN isn't bias of your mormon faith, or BYU, they are commenting that a game shouldn't be determined by a ref. It should be determined by the players on the field.
You all are laughable. Consdiering how bad UW is, and that you all needed a bogus call to prevent OT, you don't need to worry about the BCS or ESPN
Are you kidding me. To say that the flag did not affect the outcome of the game is just ridiculous. Are you saying that the same set up on both kicking teams wouldn't have changed? That's idiotic. Another homer call from another unbias homer journalist. Change the situation around would that have been your headline?
Dear BYU Fans,
Congratulations on a well-earned victory. Your team is solid and would most likely have prevailed in OT. Not even Lou Holtz or Mark May could disagree. The problem they and all UW fans have is with the rule itself, which is ridiculous. That said, rules are rules. Even Coach Willingham said it has to be called. So you can all put away your stopwatches and video footage. It was proper enforcement of a ridiculous rule.
Its too bad the rule exists. If you all think that a game-tying PAT with 2 seconds on the clock from 35 yards out is the same as a regular PAT, I think you're not being objective...
For the Husky Fans who aren't "full supporters" of Coach Willingham, this call also kept him from making another poor decision and possibly sealing his fate... As I said earlier, its highly unlikely that UW could have kept up with BYU in OT. Even before Jake scored the TD, we were all furious that Ty was going to opt for a PAT, rather than capitalizing on the momentum and taking one single opportunity to win the game with a two-point conversion. UW is something like 0-3 in OT games under Ty.
Anyway, good luck the rest of the season.
Jimmy and Jak... you my friends are the idiots. You put no blame on WASH for not being able to make a 35 yard kick.
Also, the PAC 10 refs had been giving breaks to WASH the entire game. Watch the game again and you will see many times where BYU defensive linemen are being tackled. WASH had 2 penalties, BYU had 14... sounds like BYU caught a ton of breaks.
here is the thing everyone is missing about this, yes BYU pulled out the win. But if Unga did not fumble at the one that would have put the cougars up 2 touchdowns. also this game showed that BYU's defense really is that bad the game should not have come down to this.
Plus Locker was not trying to show up BYU or anything just a happy kid who scored. BYU won which is good, but the game should not have come down to that play
Jimmy,
Couple Things. The call itself was correct and and the ruling definitely understandable considering the additional emphasis the NCAA has placed on enforcing "celebration" penalties.
Also, the game was "decided by the players," as you put it. The fact that a 35 yard PAT was blocked by the winning team was the determining factor.
Obviously BYU benefited from the penalty. But to say that the Refs determined the outcome is, to use your word, laughable.
But the fact of the matter is that the penalty was ACCURATELY enforced. I don't understand how the Refs are being blamed for enforcing the rule as it is stated in the rulebook. Isn't that what they're getting paid for? I personally don't like the rule as it is stated and would have liked to see Locker's celebration go unpunished and see the game end without the controversy. But it is what it is. Whine about the rule all you want, but the refs called it correctly.
In regards to the analysts of ESPN and FSN. Wow. Jimmy, to say there was no bias is, to use your word again, laughable. Beyond bias, complete neglect of truth in reporting the situation. Its been covered already, but seriously...the ball just "slipping" out of Locker's hands 30 feet into the air as he was standing up...please.
He threw the ball "high" into the air, was rightly flagged according to the rule and BYU blocked the PAT to win and effectually determine the outcome of this game. Congrats to the Cougars.
P.S. To walk into a BCS opponent's house and win is big. USC barely beat UW at Husky stadium by 3 points last year.
Good call, Drew.
The call was not correct. An official needs to be mature enough to determine when the textbook should be ignored. This was such a time, and it took away from a great performance and a great game. UW earned and deserved the OT chance, and an intelligent ref should recognize that, despite what his book says.
Jefe,
They had their chance to go to OT...they got their kick blocked remember? They earned then subsequently lost their chance at OT.
I'll go out on a limb and say that Jay Drew is a bit of a spineless local reporter playing to the hometown readership. That's fine, it happens.
But let's not ALL get so wrapped up in our mountain west inferiority complexes that we pretend the call did not effect the outcome of the game.
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