Alright. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've had enough. Enough complaining, enough discussing, enough of having a referee do his job being called "controversial." What Jake Locker did on Saturday was against the rules. Period. End of controversy.
As the 4th quarter wound to an end of the game between then no. 15 BYU and UW, BYU held a 7 point lead, 28-21. Washington had the ball, with one last chance to put a scoring drive together, with a chance to tie the game or even win. Finally, with 2 seconds remaining, Jake Locker rushed into the end-zone for a touchdown, after putting together an impressive drive, and making some heroic plays.
Nobody blames him for being excited. He had just accomplished a great thing. However, at that point, he threw the ball high into the air, prior to celebrating with his team. Was he taunting BYU? No. Was this an act of boasting? No. Was it offensive or disturbing in any way? Absolutely not. He simply let his emotions take over his actions. This is something that no athlete, at any time, especially not a team leader like Locker, should do. In the words of Michael Jordan "Learn to control your emotions, or they will control you."
A player of Locker's caliber surely knows the rules of the game. In fact, they had even reviewed these rules in practices, after being advised that the referees would be making this rule a "point of focus." So by letting his emotions take control, he broke a rule that he knew about. Period. End of controversy.
A lot of people say that even though Locker broke the rules, the referee should know he was just excited, and didn't do it on purpose. And that being, they shouldn't have made the call. How many times do you think an offensive lineman false starts on purpose? How often does a defender run into the kicker on purpose? It is safe to say that most penalties, most of the time, are not done on purpose. It is also safe to say that all college football fans, if being completely honest, would say that they would want referees that are calling their games, to call any penalties they see. That is what happened here. Referee Larry Farina saw something that he knew to be against the rules. At that point, it is his job to throw his flag. Even UW's coach admits this fact. "It's one that they almost have to call," coach Tyrone Willingham said. "It really should be a no-call, but it's one they have to call when they see it." Period. End of controversy.
One of the FSN broadcasters, at the end of the game, commented "This one is credited to the officials." That is ridiculous, and couldn't be further from the truth. Even after the RIGHT penalty was called, the Huskies still had the chance to kick the extra point to tie the game. Sure, it was from 35 yards now instead of 20, but for most college kickers, that is still an easy kick. However, BYU's Jan Jorgensen penetrated UW's line, and blocked the kick. He didn't just tip it, or get a finger on it. He outright blocked it. The Cougars EARNED this win. It wasn't handed to them by anyone wearing black and white. If you want to blame anyone, blame the UW line. Period. End of controversy.
Another point of interest is that UW's offensive line was not called for a single holding penalty during the entire game, even though there were countless times that they were outright tackling BYU players in the backfield. Even on that last Washington scoring drive, there were at least two BLATANT holds that went uncalled. If anyone has a right to complain about the officials, it is BYU, not the Huskies, who's "controversial" penalty was something clearly against the rules. That is something no one can argue. Period. End of controversy.
BYU was not lucky to escape Seattle with a victory. Washington was lucky to have a chance to tie it up. Earlier in the second half, BYU's tailback Harvey Unga fumbled the ball into the endzone on what otherwise would have been a BYU touchdown. A lucky break for the Huskies. BYU easily could have been up 14 going into that last drive, and the game already virtually over. However, as it stands, the game is over, and BYU not only won, but EARNED a victory. Period. End of controversy.
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