Most of your are probably familiar with "the hit" that took place just before halftime of the MSU-Wisconsin game on Saturday. Nehemiah Warrick laid a huge hit on Kyle Jefferson as he caught a pass coming across the middle. Watching it live on TV, you could almost anticipate the train wreck. Here are my thoughts on the play, watching it on TV from a college football fan perspective and also from the viewpoint "if I were to be a MSU fan."
1st Viewpoint = College FB fan:
WOW! Ouch. Unbelievable hit. Awesome hit. It was pretty good and plays you like to see. Here is my problem. The commentators for the game (Brad Nessler and Bob Griese) practically crucified Warrick for his hit. They were saying, "In the NFL, that would be a penalty for leading with the helmet and a fine."..."Kids, if you are watching at home, that is absolutely not the way you make a tackle."...etc. Come on Brad Nessler, he's just a kid who had the chance to light someone up, so he did. Give him a break. You can't sit there and not be excited about that play.
2nd Viewpoint = If I were an MSU Fan:
Hey idiot, what are you doing moron? Quit celebrating and get on the fumble. Because you were an idiot, they recovered the fumble and kicked a field goal...which technically had something to do with you losing the game. You lost by 3, that field goal gave them 3. Seriously, after he made the field goal to put the Badgers up by 6 at the half, I wondered if somehow that "hit" would come back to haunt the team. Was there anyway this was a bad thing? And then it hit me. Because he was celebrating and could have jumped on the fumble, those 3 points were going to decide the game. Sure enough, it did.
All in all, it was a bang-bang play and I'm not totally convinced he would have been able to change his direction and reverse all his momentum after the collision to get on the ball that wasn't exactly bouncing around.
1 comment:
I yelled out loud at and almost jumped off the couch at that hit. I'd like to know for sure whether it was considered a legal hit, because the commentators made me doubt. Either way, Jefferson got CRUSHED.
I thought the refs called it incomplete on the field and that's why Warrick didn't pick it up. Then, after replay, they decided it was complete, giving Wisconsin the ball. In fact, they must have called it incomplete, otherwise they wouldn't have reversed the call. This is what made me angry. If you call it a fumble on the field I feel confident that MSU would have had the ball, possibly returning it for a score or at least putting them in position to score. So, I thought the refs screwed up AND Warrick could have been more aware. I'm not going to say it cost MSU the game, but it sure could have.
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