Virigina Tech Falls Short Against Boise

Virginia Tech was not able to hold onto a late lead and fell to the Boise State Broncos Monday night 33-30. After falling behind 17-0 in the first quarter, Virginia Tech took complete control of the game roaring back to take a 30-26 lead late in the fourth quarter. The Hokies, however, just could not hold on, and quarterback Kellen Moore connected with Austin Pettis with only 1:09 left to go in the game.

The game has been analyzed repeatedly so I won't sit here and analyze the entire thing, but there are a few things I want to focus on. This is not the end of the season for Virginia Tech. Everyone seems to think it's all over now. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but Boise State is a great team and Virginia Tech easily could have won this game. The Hokies out scored the Broncos 30-16 for 3 quarters. If the Hokies had played as well in the first quarter as they did for the rest of the game, they win. Period. They clearly have coverage issues on defense, especially with linebackers covering wide receivers, but otherwise they looked good defensively. Ryan Williams picked up right where he left off last season with 3 touchdowns. Many have been critical of Tyrod Taylor's passing ability and he went 15/22 for 186 yards and 2 TDs. Darren Evans was used sparingly, but otherwise this offense looked very good. Boise State is the best team the Hokies will play all season, I think their chances for an 11-1 or 10-2 season and an ACC championship are very good. They obviously have challenges ahead, but don't count out the Hokies.

I am absolutely sick and tired of great games tarnished by referees. I was sad the Hokies lost, of course, but I was thrilled with how great a game it was...except I felt the referees had helped decide the game. At the beginning of Boise State's game winning drive, Virginia Tech punted and an obvious clipping penalty was called by a linesman 5 yards away. After the play, the referees huddled and then picked up the flag. It was an obvious call, but what really was infuriating about it was that the linesman who was right next to it and saw it clearly was somehow overruled. What was said during that conversation? "I know you were closer and had a better view, but I don't think that was clipping." It made no sense. Later on in the drive, Moore passed to Pettis who ran down the sideline. Tech's Bruce Taylor lunged after him and hit him just after he stepped out of bounds. He was flagged for a late hit and 15 more yards were tacked on. Was the play intentional? No. Was it malicious in any way? No. It is completely unreasonable for a referee to expect a player who is in midair to somehow stop himself from touching a receiver who stepped out of bounds. When Taylor jumped, Pettis was in bounds. When he hit him, Pettis was out. This was completely unfair.

I also have to bring up the glorious BCS. Virginia Tech was the best team on Boise State's schedule. The only other ranked opponent is Oregon State so there is a very good chance that the Broncos will yet again go undefeated. This will begin the debate again about whether they deserve a shot at the BCS. Can a team that is not in a BCS conference play for the National title? Obviously the BCS believes it is possible if they actually deserve it or the system would not make sense...well it would make less sense. There is of course the very legitimate argument that a team from the BCS conference has a much tougher schedule than Boise State. It is harder to play in a BCS conference than it is in the WAC. If two BCS teams go undefeated can you put Boise in the National Championship?

All that aside, you CANNOT deny Boise State their shot if they win out this season. Essentially they have done absolutely everything you've asked them to do. They have a weak conference so they fill their non conference schedule with power house teams. They do it every season. They even played Virginia Tech at an even bigger and louder venue than Lane Stadium. You cannot tell them they have not done enough after going undefeated for two straight seasons with wins over Oregon, TCU, Virginia Tech, and Oregon State. If that's the case, then they will never get their shot. They cannot do more than they have already. Unless Virginia Tech needs them to lose later on in the season, I hope they win out just to mess with the BCS. The idiots in charge of the BCS won't notice of course, but anything that might help bring a playoff would be great.

Even with the devastating loss, it was still a great game and it was only the first week of the season! There will be more great games to come.

NCAA Approves New Taunting Rule for 2011, Brace Yourselves for Controversy

The NCAA recently announced its new rule changes to college football. Starting in 2011, taunting penalties will actually result in the loss of points if the penalty occurred before the points were scored. What the NCAA is hoping to prevent with this rule are incidents in which players high step into the endzone or dive with no one around them, or any other obvious shots at the opposing team. Once again, the NCAA is ignoring the basic human nature of the game of football and is poised for some major controversies when the rule is put into place.

It seems that every year there is some controversy when it comes to taunting. The reason for this is because there is no set standard for what constitutes as taunting. Referees have to try to interpret what the intent of certain celebrations is in order to determine whether it is deliberately aimed at the other team. It is the dumbest rule in the rule book, but it really only has been a minor annoyance thus far since points were rarely taken off the board. One taunting penalty in particular, however, cost Washington its game-tying drive against BYU. In 2008, Washington quarterback Jake Locker ran into the endzone with 2 seconds left to go in the game. Thinking he had just tied the game Locker threw the ball up and celebrated the dramatic comeback with his teammates. Locker was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, the extra point was moved 15 yards back, and was then blocked by BYU who walked away with a 28-27 victory. To say the penalty had no affect on the outcome is absurd. It took away some of the momentum of Washington, it changed the extra point from a 20 yard kick to a 35 yard kick which changes the whole dynamic of the play, and it allowed BYU more time to prepare to block. If that penalty is not called I do not think BYU blocks that kick.

What's even more infuriating about that play is that Locker did nothing wrong. He was not intending to mock or taunt the other team, he was excited because he just capped an 18 play drive with a game tying touchdown! What are players expected to do in that situation? I completely understand the desire to take away taunting other teams, but when you score a big play and are excited, your first thought is not, I better place the ball gently on the ground to avoid a penalty. Players aren't thinking at all! Anyone who has ever played sports or anyone that is a fan of sports knows that feeling. When a big play happens and you just won the game, you jump around and yell and scream and half the time you don't even remember what you're saying or doing because you're not thinking about it! Ok, so Terrell Owens was thinking when he took the pen out of his sock and signed a football. Chad Ochocinco is thinking when he does everyone of his celebrations, and I understand the NCAA's desire to not let that happen in college football, but you can't watch the replay of the Washington/BYU game and tell me what Locker did was unsportsmanlike. Football is an emotional game and to try to take the emotion out of it is stupid.

The point to this rant is that now, by allowing referees to take points off the board, this will be much worse. What constitutes taunting? What I think is taunting is different than what someone else thinks is taunting. Every year there is controversy over a number of taunting penalties because the guidelines for what constitutes taunting are so vague that even celebrations that aren't aimed at the other team are flagged. Yet, we now want points taken off the board for a completely subjective rule? If a player is all alone running the ball into the endzone to win the game for his team and he lifts his free hand up in celebration, boom, penalty. You might not think this is taunting, but another referee might. If a player is so far away from everyone else that he starts to jog into the endzone, penalty. One ref may think he was slowing down as a jab to the other team. You may be telling yourself that refs aren't going to be making these calls in big situations, but that sure didn't seem to stop them from ruining the game for Washington. What this rule will do is eliminate obvious high stepping and taunting from show boaters, but it will also ruin the amazing plays of genuinely excited players. When you're about to score a touchdown to win the game at the end of regulation or in overtime, you're excited! It's only natural and its not unsportsmanlike or wrong at all. What's wrong is telling him that it's not ok to be excited. It's not ok to celebrate your amazing play because one referee may decide to ruin your game. That's what this rule does. It gives the referees the ability to ruin the game. Points are never guaranteed, ever. By allowing referees to take them off the board for such an objective call is perhaps one of the dumbest ideas in college football since the BCS.

Football is not a game that can be played without emotion. When you see players listening to music before a game, they aren't listening to "Puff the Magic Dragon" or "If You're Happy and You Know it Clap Your Hands." They are listening to music to get themselves pumped up. Let these players celebrate their amazing accomplishments and plays. They shouldn't have to worry about how they look while they are running the ball into the endzone. What if a referee determined that when Cal returned the epic kickoff against Stanford in the most exciting play in college football history, that by jumping into the endzone they were actually taunting Stanford? What if a referee saw a Boise State player celebrating just before they took the ball into the endzone for the two point conversion that beat Okalhoma in one of the greatest games every played? In 2011 we will see far too many games ruined by referees and that truly will be nothing to celebrate.

Ridiculous Bowl Games

During the bowl season we really see how out of hand the commercialism has gotten in college. Was everybody excited for the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl? How about the Meineke Car Care Bowl? Or the PapaJohns.com Bowl? I'm not against advertisements in sports nor am I naive enough to think that Bowls should do away with these names all together. That's not going to happen. What I don't like about it is the fact that these names have taken away from the prestige and accomplishment of the players. How can a player say with pride that he played in AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl? The names have really cheapened these games.

The Peach Bowl used to be a pretty prestigious bowl. Pitting a top ACC team against an SEC team made it one to watch. Then it became the Chick-fil-A Peach bowl. Ok, I understand that. It might not have the same ring to it, but at least it doesn't have a ridiculous name like some of the others I mentioned. Now, it is simply the Chick-fil-A bowl. Why was that necessary? The message here is that the bowl is not as important as the sponsor. The actual bowl took away from their advertisement. Maybe they shouldn't even play the game, but just have a four hour slide show about chicken.

The bottom line is that you have a group of college kids leaving everything they've got on the field and we reward them with a trophy for the Capital One Bowl. When bowl names get thrown out completely and replaced by companies, they lose something. The BCS gets rich and then they wonder why people aren't as excited about bowl games as they used to be. This also completely undermines the NCAA. College players can't take a salary, can't make endorsements, can't hire agents, and then play in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl. It's completely hypocritical. Why are people surprised when players leave early? The BCS has sent a message that money is the most important part of football. When officials collect on the EagleBank Bowl and then tell players that their scholarship is too high or it violates some obscure rule, why should they stay?

Well, players are asking themselves the same question. Think of all the superstars that walk away every year to collect that big pay check. Who can blame them? If players have nothing else to play for, they will play for money and the college game suffers because of it.

After Months of Nonsense, Time for Crabtree to Prove He's Worth It

On October 7 Michael Crabtree finally agreed to terms with the San Francisco 49ers after a very long holdout. The 49ers have a bye week this week and will then face the Houston Texans. After Crabtree's stubborn negotiations, the game against Houston will be his first chance to prove that he can make an impact on this team and is worth his six-year $32 million contract. While expectations for many rookies are usually low, many expect an immediate impact from Crabtree after his ridiculous holdout.


Heading into the 2009 NFL Draft, the clear top two receivers were Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin from Missouri. When it came time for the number seven Oakland Raiders to make their pick, they shocked fans and NFL analysts by picking Maryland receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey. Crabtree was later selected 10th overall by San Francisco. Rather than be thankful he avoided Oakland and crazy owner Al Davis, Crabtree seemed to take exception and demanded more money from the 49ers. Many sources close to Crabtree stated that he was willing to sit out the entire 2009 season if the 49ers did not offer him more. Deion Sanders, Crabtree's counselor, told the press he was not in dire need of money and would re-enter the draft next season if need be. Crabtree became the longest hold out in franchise history until October 7 when both parties finally reached an agreement.

The stupidity and selfishness of this situation completely astounds me and highlights a disturbing trend among NFL rookies. Despite never playing a single down in the NFL, Crabtree felt he was worth more than the millions the 49ers offered him and held out reportedly for "seventh pick money" a blatant knock against Heyward-Bey. What Crabtree will make in a single season is enough for most people to live off of their entire lives and yet Crabtree felt the need to hold out for more. The simple fact of the matter is that until you play in the NFL, there is no guarantee that you will have any success. For players to come out of college and demand obscene amounts of money is just unbelievable. What was even more shocking was the fact that Crabtree was willing to sit out this season and re-enter the draft. Some may say he was bluffing to try and force the 49ers' hand, but this seems unlikely as it was not his agent making this threat, but sources close to Crabtree that were coming out and saying this was how he felt. How would that have worked out for him? Crabtree would have enetered next year's draft having sat out a full year and with an enormous red flag hanging over him. He would have been drafted much lower than 10th over all, perhaps as low as in the second round, and his salary would have dropped accordingly. Would it have been worth it? He would have held out for less money and the 49ers, who currently have a 3-2 record without Crabtree, would be free of an overpriced headache.

While we can't say for sure what Crabtree was thinking during all of this, he now has to face the consequences. Yes, he got most of the money he wanted, but he certainly did not make any friends in the 49ers' locker room or within San Francisco's fan base. Despite being a rookie, Crabtree hasn't left himself much leeway for growing time. If he wants to be paid like a superstar and whine like a superstar, he better perform like one before the fans run him out of town. Let's hope other rookies take this lesson to heart as well. I know if someone offered me a few million dollars to play a sport I'd jump at the chance rather than complain about how much other people were getting paid. Sorry kids, but I have no sympathy for you if your $30 million lifestyle has to wait because your team is only offering you $20 million. Maybe you should earn your salary before you begin complaining.

Not Time For the Hokies to Panic

On September 26, a Miami team went into Blacksburg on top of the world. They were what many called the best story in college football this season. After years of mediocre football, the once dominant team seemed to be getting its swagger back. They were 2-0 after beating rival Florida State and ACC opponent Georgia Tech and were being led by dark horse Heisman candidate Jacory Harris. Everyone was proclaiming that the U was back and then...they played Virginia Tech. The Hokies dominated Miami from start to finish winning 31-7 establishing themselves as the team to beat in the ACC. And then...they played Duke. After dominating one of the best teams in the nation the Hokies found themselves in a dog fight with the most unlikely of teams. The Hokies did manage to hold off the Blue Devils for a 34-26 victory, but this was certainly not the dominant performance many expected. Is it time for panic in Blacksburg? In the words of Lee Corso "not so fast my friend!"

If there is one constant in college football, it is its unpredictability. Two teams that look miles apart on paper can find themselves in a nail-bitter come game day. What is important is how a team responds to a surging underdog. The Hokies may not have played their most impressive game against Duke, but they did win. There are also numerous reasons why this close game really should not have been a huge surprise. The Hokies seem to really struggle on the road. Last season they lost their last three ACC road games. While many just snicker when they see Duke on the schedule, this is a football program on the rise. Second year coach David Cutcliffe has really created excitement in Durham over this football team and for teams with a losing history this can be half the battle. Duke is also in the Coastal division of the ACC with Virginia Tech meaning that these two teams meet every single year. These teams know each other well. Think that doesn't matter? Ask USC. It seems that every year they lose to a weak Pac 10 team and this year was no exception. After beating Ohio State at the Horseshoe, the very next week they went to Washington and lost. Can you really blame Virginia Tech for not looking excited and motivated to play at Duke the week after a huge win at Blacksburg over Miami? Remember that these are college kids playing. They may say all the right things when it comes to playing Duke, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were looking past this game for a real opponent.

Don't just focus on how bad you think the Hokies played, look at what they did well. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor who has struggled all season really led this team to victory throwing for 327 yards and 2 touchdowns. If he had managed anywhere close to those numbers against Alabama this team would be undefeated and ranked in the top 3. Looking ahead, the Hokies may really benefit from a top-heavy schedule. Three of their first four opponents were ranked, but none of their remaining opponents are. By beating Miami in their ACC opener, the Hokies have already beaten the best team in their division. While they do still face tough challenges from Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and Maryland, it should still be all downhill from here.