12/03/24
October 09, 2011
LSU Punter Loses Touchdown for Taunting: LSU punter Brad Wing scored on a 52-yard run on a fake punt against Florida Saturday, but the play was called back to the Florida 23-yard line because officials ruled Wing taunted UF's players before crossing the goal line.
The punter's gesture was extremely brief -- maybe a second of holding his hands at his sides before he reconsidered. It's dumb for the NCAA to make an unsportsmanlike call cancel a play. His gesture had no impact on the success or failure of the play.
posted by rcade at 01:06 PM on October 09, 2011
Wow, talk about over-reaction.
First, the officials call that TD back. Stupid rule. Assess a penalty on the kickoff, the gesture doesn't change the play. Guess they're just getting the players ready for the NFL (no fun league).
Then, Florida head coach Will Muschamp, who said after the game that the Gators had two players assigned to the punter on the fake two players who "didn't do their job" and "won't play in our program."
Really, mess up one play and you're out of the program? In college? Publicly fired? That coach is a dick.
posted by dviking at 01:16 PM on October 09, 2011
His gesture had no impact on the success or failure of the play.
That's not among the criteria for the penalty, nor should it be. Unsportsmanlike means just that, and yes, I know that worse things are done in football, but that doesn't mean this particular bad thing should continue to be ignored.
posted by Etrigan at 01:47 PM on October 09, 2011
I wasn't arguing to ignore it. The penalty should be a dead ball foul assessed after the play, either on the PAT or the kickoff in this circumstance. The Gators gave up a 54-yard touchdown run from the punter. Unsportsmanlike conduct does not change the outcome of a play. The penalty shouldn't change it either.
posted by rcade at 01:59 PM on October 09, 2011
One of the CBS studio team joked that while the SEC has a very strict interpretation of that rule, and that teams are made very aware of it by their coaches, punters aren't usually invited to those meetings.
posted by etagloh at 04:27 PM on October 09, 2011
For the record, I'm not saying the infraction should be ignored either. Just seems like the penalty is pretty severe for, in this case at least, fairly minor actions. No one gets hurt, no advantage is gained, so I don't see the point.
posted by dviking at 08:12 PM on October 09, 2011
I saw this and it was a bit ridiculous. Compare this with the many tackles that are made with the tackler going beserk and pounding his chest.
posted by gopokes at 11:12 PM on October 09, 2011
For the record, I AM saying the "infraction" should be ignored. That's a seriously ridiculous rule that should never have been invented. What's the purpose of it?
posted by JJ at 08:22 AM on October 10, 2011
Taunting is unsportsmanlike, JJ. Whether you agree with the interpretation or not, these are supposed to be somewhat gentlemanly contests of athleticism, not street brawls between warring factions. The TD-reversal was instituted after years of increasingly showboatastic end-zone celebrations, actively antagonistic taunting and similar behavior that was deemed to be harmful to the image of the game. When the penalty was 10 yards on the ensuing kickoff, it was largely ignored by coaches and laughed at by players. So they made it draconian, and it seems to be working. And I say, "Good."
posted by Etrigan at 08:31 AM on October 10, 2011
No coach would ignore a 15-yard penalty assessed on a kickoff in a close game. End zone celebrations have not been getting worse in recent years because of the penalty that was already being assessed. Most players toss the ball to the ref.
posted by rcade at 09:30 AM on October 10, 2011
LSU's punter is Australian. Clear bias at work here. What do Aussies have to do to shred the untrustworthy-penal-colony-inhabitants label? The fact that Brad Wing grew up playing Australian rules football probably helped cement the stereotype in the refs' eyes.
Kidding aside, I think it was a borderline taunt and that the new rule is dumb, but I guess rules are rules. LSU's defense has done a lot worse in terms of taunting and trash talking, without penalty thus far this year. Fortunately, did not factor into the outcome. Interestingly, in some of the post-game coverage, I read that the punter took off of his own initiative once he saw there was a clear lane and the coverage was all going to the other side of the field. Good call by him and good coaching to give the kid the latitude to make that decision when the play develops a certain way.
posted by holden at 12:55 PM on October 10, 2011
posted by holden at 02:44 PM on October 10, 2011
Once again the doubling up of uniform numbers ended up causing a fun TV moment as the producer chose a shot of a smiling #38 on the sideline after the penalty was announced.
It wasn't #38 Wing the punter, but one of the other #38's on the roster, Howard.
Who is also a punter. And the third #38 is a PK. Just to keep it all in the family.
The official LSU roster also includes 18 guys listed at #0.
No potential for confusion in any of that, of course.
And people are worried about Boise State dressing in all blue when they play on their home turf?