The QB Is Dead! Long Live the QB! Persa Leads Northwestern to Ugly Win Over Vanderbilt, 23-21
by Hilary Lee on Sep 4, 2010 11:45 PM CDT
in Northwestern
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PrintWell, that was a bit too fun.
Northwestern went deep (ok sort of deep) into the heart of SEC country and came back with a win. Of course, it was a two point win in a game that should not have been nearly as close as it turned out. But, that's the Wildcats, isn't it? They do this. They make nearly everything harder than it has to be. At one point, the announcers said that with Saturday's victory, the ‘Cats are now 25-7 in their last 32 games decided by seven points or fewer. And as interesting a stat that is, I really wasn't surprised by it.
Before I get into my thoughts on the game itself, a note about the broadcast. Tonight's game was perhaps the most egregiously biased broadcast of a college football game I can remember. Look, I know that CSS has a contract with the SEC and that this was a home game for an SEC team. And I get that the two broadcasters - Matt Stewart and Chris Doering - have SEC / Southern ties (Stewart is a broadcaster based out of Atlanta, and Chris Doering played at Florida back in the day).
But, seriously?
Throughout the entire game the announcing crew was CLEARLY pulling for Vanderbilt. If the Commodores scored or had any sort of big play, the announcers were effusive in praise. If Northwestern did something well? Yeah, not so much. It sounded like Dan Persa had just run over someone's pet hamster with a scooter. At one point, the announcers even said that the "stars of the game" were the players on the Vanderbilt secondary. The same secondary of a team that was down by more than a score and that had already given up oodles of pass yardage and a TD on the night. Hmm.
As annoying as that was to deal with as a Northwestern fan, it wasn't what made the announcing so horrid. I can live with broadcasters who seem to be homers when they call a game. Really, my opinion of their quality was established near the last play of the game. Northwestern had the ball, with a two point lead. It was third down, and they needed to convert to end the game. Miss the conversion and you have to give Vandy one last shot to win it. Dan Persa kept the ball and was running towards what appeared to be an easy, game-ending first down. All of a sudden he was leveled by a Vandy safety that seemed to come out of nowhere, just shy of the end of the chains. Very shortly after that, a flag appeared on the field.
After praising the hit on Persa for what seemed like five minutes, one of the announcers saw the flag on the field and said that he hoped that the ref wasn't going to call helmet-to-helmet. Well, that's what the ref did. Specifically, a personal foul on a high hit. That's a penalty that's good for 15 yards and an automatic first down. Effectively a game ender.
The reaction by the announcers was swift, loud, and absurd. Protests of, "Come on!" "That's a horrible call!" and "I can't believe they're going to allow the game to end on a call like that!" were heard. Knowing the reputation of the SEC refs, I was eager to see the replay.
What did it show? Flagrant helmet-to-helmet contact. Need proof? This (admittedly poor quality) picture was taken from the online recap of the game. The guy with the ball is Dan Persa. The guy who is leading with his helmet directly at Persa's head is the Vanderbilt player that was called for a high hit.
The best part of this was the reaction of the announcer. On the first replay: "That was a horrible call! He hit him on the shoulder pad!" (Somehow, the shoulder pad had miraculously moved up to the position of the helmet). On the close-up angle that followed shortly, "It may have a been a bit high, but he didn't have any mal intent!"
Mal intent? When did mens rea become part of college football? I swear I felt like I was back in 1L crim law discussing premeditated murder and malice aforethought. Guess what. Intent doesn't matter. You can't lead with the crown of your head. The rules don't care if you intend to hurt the other player or if the other player is moving at an angle. Leading with your helmet is a foul, and the refs are supposed to call it even if the foul is "in question." Oi. Just terrible, terrible broadcasting.
Okay, enough of that. On to the game.
The good news is, Northwestern won. They didn't pull a Syracuse. The bad news? Vanderbilt is not good enough for this game to have been this close. While having a win is great, this feels like a bad omen on the season to me.
Dan Persa actually had an excellent debut. He went 19-for-21, threw for 220+ yards, ran for 80 more, and had 3 TDs. I'll take that from him any day of the week. He did have a turnover when he got stripped of the ball at one point, and he'll certainly need to work on ball security going forward. All in all, a good night.
Jeremy Ebert was a standout. The guy who had only 200 yards all last season had nearly 100 receiving yards on the night AND a 33 yard TD. It seems like Persa has a new favorite. Sidney Stewart and Drake Dunsmore were relatively quiet, but I hope to see more of them as the season goes on. The running game, outside of Persa, was kind of terrible. Arby Fields finished the night with negative yardage, and outside of one outstanding catch, was pretty much a non-factor. It's not like this is much of a change from last year, but I was hoping for more.
The main concerns I have, though, regard the offensive line and the defense. For most of the first half, Persa was pressured by a not all that scary Vandy defense in ways that made me worry. If the offensive line lets Persa suffer like this against Vanderbilt, what's going to happen against Iowa? Against Wisconsin? I don't want to imagine it.
The defense is also giving me heart burn. I knew the secondary and the rest of it would be a bit green going into the season, but, 430 yards given up? Nearly 200 rushing? Way, way too many missed tackles. Way too many holes open that should not have been. Just messy all around. Again, this is against a team that, while possessing the SEC Speeeeeeed, isn't exactly the class of their conference. Northwestern has to get this under control if they want to survive when they get to the meat of their conference schedule, or things are going to be seriously ugly this year. Beyond Pizza! Pizza! Bowl ugly. Queso bowl ugly.
But, I think that's enough hand wringing for now. A win is a win is a win, and it was one in a hostile environment to boot. Northwestern is now 1-0 heading into a home opener against much easier Illinois State team. Let's start a streak!
Go U! NU!
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I think ESPN3 was picking up a feed from the SEC regional netowork, which might explain the bias of the announcers. And yes, it was bad, especially on that particular play. Although they did name Persa as player of the game.
Persa looked extremely good, better than most Cats’ fans could have hoped. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the defense seems suspect and the running game (besides Persa) is nonexistent. The former may be fixable with some experience; the secondary is green, and it showed. The d line, however, has some experience, but it still failed to control the line of scrimmage.
Worse was the running game, however. We are supposed tyo have one of the better O lines in the conference, but you couldn’t tell it from tonight’s game. Schmidt was good for a reliable 2 yards a carry- and he was the highlight. Arby Fields thought he was Barry Sanders, only without the talent, and wound up with a negative 7 yards rushing. That’s pathetic. Did Adonis Smith play? I suspect they were hoping to not burn his redshirt, but I think they may have to by the time we start playing real teams.
I’ll take the win, but we need to get a lot better before we start conference play.
The announcers actually
were on CSS (Comcast’s Sports Station), which is the Comcast sports channel out of the south I think. The Chicago equivalent is called CSN (Comcast Sports Network). I know that the announcers were regional, but… still… it was pretty bad.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
It's an SEC Crew
as part of their SEC broadcasting contract. And yes, they’re supposed to be SEC homers. They’re barely tolerable.
"Bama Hawkeye, you know, the Iowa blogger who actually uses reason and analysis." - Hawkeye State
"Off Tackle Empire":http://www.offtackleempire.com
The announcing highlight of the night
for me was when these guys were crowing about how much faster Vandy was then Northwestern when a) Vandy is down by two scores at that point and b) on the play that they were blabbing about Vandy’s speed, Persa…Dan Persa…took an option read and went for over 10 yards, out…speeding?…a linebacker and defensive end who couldn’t contain.
Seriously?
"Whoever said that the pen is mightier than the sword never encountered automatic weapons."
Actually
apparently CSS stands for “Comcast Sports South.”
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
Well, it's an excuse.
Way for you guys to start off 1-0. I’d have hated to see the end result of a loss to Vandy…
Big Ten Standings: Penn State 1-0, Northwestern 1-0, Minnesota 1-0, Iowa 1-0, Indiana 1-0, Ohio State 1-0, Michigan 1-0, Michigan State 1-0, Illinois 0-1, Purdue 0-1
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 5, 2010 12:33 AM CDT up reply actions
More on game announcing
Did anyone else catch the Purdue-Notre Dame game. I didn’t see much of it, because I was watching Michigan maul UConn for most of the afternoon, but did switch over during the fourth quarter.
NBC, of course, has a contract with Notre Dame (one they’ve probably been regretting for the past several years), so their crews are usually a bit pro-Domer, which is no big deal. However, was anybody else just a bit creeped out by the color commentator (Mike Mayock, I think) constantly referring to ND players by their first names? “Dayne’s got to put it up earlier and let his receiver go get it”.
It may be just me, but it was really jarring hearing them do that. I don’t recall even the legions of national announcers who were slobbering over Tebow last year ever refer to him as “Tim” during game broadcasts, although I could’ve missed it.
Congrats to the ‘Cats on the win over Vandy. I really wanted Northwestern to win—partly on general principles, and partly because an NU win made me 4-0 in this week’s OTE pick-em contest (Gooooo Boise!).
Shame on You Lee
You are lying to your readers… there was no helmet-to-helmet contact
I watched that about 10 or 11 times and I'm still unsure.
Even paused it second by second. At five seconds it appears that the Vandy player’s helmet is lined up directly with Persa’s helmet then Persa begins to go down as the Vandy player stays on his feet (even appears to move upward).
I don’t see any helmet to helmet, but then again the flag came from an angle opposite the one from which this video was taken. Also keep in mind, I had to watch it frame by frame 11 times to be be able to say that I’m unsure if there was any helmet to helmet contact. The referees only had their eyes at the instant of the play, going at full speed, on which to base their decision. They erred on the side of caution.
well if there was any doubt on who our commentator of the day is
it’s our friend “you are a liar”, who created an OTE account just to shame Hil. Genius, sir/lady, genius…Of course that kind of effort shows a certain level of hatred towards the penalty call that could only be generated by a vandy fan, meaning that I can chalk “retain one Vanderbilt reader as a member of OTE” off my bucket list…sweet
Off Tackle Empire
The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
by Graham Filler on Sep 5, 2010 10:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Hmmm...
Methinks a waiting period of 12 hours would do a world of good against this SEC-account creating speed…
Big Ten Standings: Penn State 1-0, Northwestern 1-0, Minnesota 1-0, Iowa 1-0, Indiana 1-0, Ohio State 1-0, Michigan 1-0, Michigan State 1-0, Illinois 0-1, Purdue 0-1
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 5, 2010 10:50 AM CDT up reply actions
Don't do that
Unless it’s a huge problem, I think it’s better to be open to new people than to try to lock out a few miscreants.
Plus it’s makes for good entertainment. I love laughing at rednecks.
Reality has a little-known Northwestern bias
NU prez knows how to get PUMPED
No
There is no defense for SEC speed.
"Bama Hawkeye, you know, the Iowa blogger who actually uses reason and analysis." - Hawkeye State
"Off Tackle Empire":http://www.offtackleempire.com
You put up a still shot of the
moment before contact to make your point? Run the whole video, the Vandy player doesn’t come anywhere close to hitting Persa’s helmet with his. He lead with his shoulder, and it was a bad call.
Now, the play happened right at the marker, so Persa may have the first down anyway, but we’ll never know.
either way you cut it
it was poor tackling technique. You are always supposed to level big hits at a person’s chest, not neck/head. There is no excuse for that. None. Vandy needs to suck it up and play correctly…then they can complain about the call.
No one is getting Rubio's rights unless they pry them from our cold dead fingers.
by TheEvilProfessor on Sep 5, 2010 10:14 AM CDT up reply actions
yeah
that screenshot posted is very misleading
It's the best I could do
since I don’t have a full on video capturing ability on my computer. Watching the replay in action was clear to me as well. I wouldn’t have posted the image if I had a doubt about the call.
In any case, even if the ref had a doubt, it doesn’t matter because they’re supposed to call it. Think of it like strict liability. If the call is “in question” the flag is thrown.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
NO
Refs are not supposed to throw a flag if it is “in question”. In that scenario, the flag is supposed to stay in the pocket. That isn’t what happens in reality everytime, but what is supposed to happen under the rules. I think it’s a close call that, on replay tilts towards a non-penalty, but in the heat of the moment is a call that will be made more often that not because of how close it was. Might haven irrelevant either way, Vandy would still have had to score, no guarantee of anything.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Sorry Hoya but the rules say different
Didn’t see the game because my internet provider isn’t one of the members of ESPN360.com (you suck ESPN). So I listened to it on the WGN Radio 720 internet feed. Their announcers thought it was legit (of course).
I had never heard of the “high hit on the quarterback” penalty that was ruled. So I downloaded the “NCAA Football 2009-2010 Rules and Interpretations.pdf” from the NCAA site and just spent an hour looking thru it for this call.
Unfortunately I could not find any reference to “high hit on the quarterback”; maybe somebody else will have better luck.
But I did find two citations that were relevant.
FR-9
Intentional helmet-to-helmet contact is never legal, nor is any other blow directed toward an opponent’s head. Flagrant offenders shall be disqualified.
FR-119
Rule 9 Conduct of Players and Others Subject to the Rules
SECTION 1. Contact and Interference Fouls
ARTICLE 3. a. No player shall initiate contact and target an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet. When in question, it is a foul.
PENALTY (a-b)—Personal foul, 15 yards.
Sooooo, when it is in “question” the ref IS supposed to make the call. The rules say specifically to do so. If the game had been in Evanston with an SEC crew, the call might not have been questionable. That wasn’t the case last night though.
Damn you and your faster
typing :). Beat me by a minute!
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
the defender led with his shoulder into Persa's shoulder
which the replay clearly shows
and the rule says “No player shall initiate contact and target an opponent with the crown (top) of his helmet”
so I don’t see how this rule citation proves your point
Further direction on helmet-to-helmet provided on FR-9
FR-9
Intentional helmet-to-helmet contact is never legal, nor is any other blow directed toward an opponent’s head. Flagrant offenders shall be disqualified.
That makes the call legit and is probably why the ref didn’t use the term helmet-to-helmet instead saying “high hit on the quarterback”.
Loretta, you’re obviously a Vandy fan. Regardless of what is said here, you’re going to feel that Vanderbilt was screwed. Whatever. But the refs had like 2-3 seconds to make the call unlike all of us out here in cyberspace. Given that they’ve been instructed to focus on penalizing headshots — I really think they made the call based on what they saw and there wasn’t anything intentional going on.
I looked at Anchor Of Gold to see what was being said there. The consensus seemed to be that the Big Ten crew handed the game to Northwestern. Ask around. Big Ten crews are generally acknowledged to be some of the finest officials in the country… in both college and pro. Which is why I take exception to them being pelted with debris/liquids on leaving the field.
Like I said before — I didn’t get to see the game. I listened to a radio feed. (But I have viewed “Liar’s” feed many, many times.) It sounded like a great game. As I understand it, the return game is scheduled for 2012 in Evanston. You should plan on making the trip. Seats are usually available at Ryan Field. More than likely available directly from the ticket office. Northwestern students/fans are very welcoming and hospitable.
Revenge in 2012 is the best that you’re going to get from this Big Ten fan.
Loretta, you’re obviously a Vandy fan
I am not only a Northwestern fan, I write for the SB Nation Northwestern blog. the other guy who writes for that blog agrees with me that it was a bad call, in fact he called it a terrible call in his recap today. I have no idea why you are bringing SEC vs. Big Ten into this. I don’t think anyone from the SEC who isn’t a Vandy fan gives a crap about a game between the SEC"s worst football program and a traditional Big Ten football bottom feeder. It is not only “SEC trolls” who think it was a bad call.
as for the video, it clearly shows the Vandy player lead with his shoulder and hit Persa in the shoulder. If you watch that video and come to a different conclusion, then I can only conclude you are somehow biased towards the Big Ten side, a conclusion reinforced by you nonsensically bringing Big Ten vs. SEC into this. Projection is a powerful thing.
i can only speak for myself
but as the other writer for sippin on purple, it’s frustrating that northwestern won and a (bad) call that probably didn’t effect the outcome of the game is all anybody can talk about.
by Rodger Sherman on Sep 6, 2010 5:28 PM CDT up reply actions
nah its not you
the whole thing is pretty funny.
by Rodger Sherman on Sep 6, 2010 5:53 PM CDT up reply actions
I respectfully disagree
It was not a bad call. But I knew Loretta was a NU fan. That’s why I responded to him before.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
Go look at Anchor Of Gold.
Then tell me if I’m projecting my biases. They’re saying the Big Ten refs intentionally threw the flag to save a middle-tier Big Ten team from losing to the SEC’s bottom feeder.
Apologies. I couldn’t tell your afiliation from your ID. Kudos to you for your objectivity. However, the call was legit. For all the reasons I’ve cited.
Refs have 2-3 seconds to make a penalty call and no video replay like us here in cyberspace (penalties are not reviewable). Plus, here’s something to think about. The ref who threw the flag was five yards away from the hit and had a different angle than “Liar’s” video. He might have seen something entirely different from what’s been posted.
And I don’t think Northwestern is a bottom feeder. They’re a solid middle-tier team under Fitzgerald.
Uhhh
Actually, they are. Rule 9, Section 1, Article 3(a):
Initiating Contact/Targeting an Opponent
ARTICLE 3. a. No player shall initiate contact and target an opponent with
the crown (top) of his helmet. When in question, it is a foul.
If you don’t believe me: http://www.ncaapublications.com/productdownloads/FR09.pdf
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
Sorry about beating you to the point Hilary
I think that statement made on page FR-9 is where this "high hit on the quarterback" call came from. The Vandy linebacker, Jay Fullam, IMO was directing his blow towards Persa’s head.
And I am basing my opinion on the youtube clip that “You are a liar” linked to. Sorry Vandy fans — you lose again.
Agreed
I think there was actual helmet to helmet contact, but even if there wasn’t, directing a blow at the head is illegal, and the rules mandate a call of the foul if it was even “in question,” which, looking at how we don’t have a certain answer after days and many replays later, is almost certain.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
Taylor Mays has no idea what you are talking about...
He has sweet helmet to helmet action. As did Troy Polamalu…
Can Abbrederis shoot the long three and effectively distribute the ball to his big men?
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
For all the crap we give Wil Wheaton, he can still tackle better than Asante Samuel...
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 5, 2010 2:54 PM CDT up reply actions
Fair enough
And probably for the best for this type of penalty. Was mistaken where I thought it was like other penalties where the opposite generally applies (and should apply in those cases).
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
I think in this scenario
deterrence is valuable
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
Right, but Persa was running more or less
perpendicular to the sideline, and the Vandy player hit him in the shoulder. There was never anything close to helmet/helmet contact.
Disagree
I’ve watched the video linked above by “Liar” several times and paused it at various points and it certainly looks like there is, or very likely is, helmet to helmet contact. As pointed out above, if it is in question, call the foul. The refs were correct here.
The whole discussion about the penalty is misdirectedd
If that penalty isn’t called, Vanderbilt gets the ball at their own 20 with 60 seconds left, no timeouts, and a kicker who has already missed one field goal and an extra point. Vanderbilt isn’t winning the game anyway.
What the focus should be on is Caldwell’s decision to kick it away with only 2:14 on the clock.
Reality has a little-known Northwestern bias
NU prez knows how to get PUMPED
yup
that was a big mistake
Caldwell also punted a couple of times on 4th and short inside the NU 40 yard line early in the game, which I thought was pretty dumb
The last one though
just confused me. I really didn’t understand the decision.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
i’ve seen far far far worse announcing performances than that, they offered up plenty of praise for NU players. they were talking the entire night about how good Persa was, and constantly mentioned the impact DiNardo was making. it really wasn’t that big a deal, they were at least as objective as Dave Eanet is on the radio, and I love Eanet, he does a great job. since they are on the SEC network, they are going be somewhat biased towards the SEC team, as they should be, most of their audience is going to be rooting for the SEC, same thing with the NU radio broadcast.
Hahaha. Is this literally a joke?
“What did it show? Flagrant helmet-to-helmet contact. Need proof? This (admittedly poor quality) picture was taken from the online recap of the game.”
“Flagrant helmet-to-helmet”? Seriously? Then you post a grainy, terrible picture to “prove” it. I know you’re a blogger and not a real writer but this is an insult to anyone with a brain.
What did it show? Clean shoulder to shoulder contact. Need proof? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBf10MGO-IQ.
Topic over.
by WMUpilot on Sep 6, 2010 6:05 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Ahem
watch the way Persa’s head moves at the point of contact, there was helmet to helmet there.
by Pariahwulfen on Sep 6, 2010 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions
One last time. Then topic over WMU.
Was it flagrant? IT DOESN’T MATTER. Did it affect the outcome of the game? IT DOESN’T MATTER. Does the video a Vandy fan took show “clean” shoulder-to-shoulder contact? IT DOESN’T MATTER.
The Big Ten officiating crew correctly called a Personal Foul as directed by the rule book. They did this based on the 3-4 seconds it took to evaluate the hit. Fullam was directing his blow towards Persa’s head.
The reason the NCAA has directed officiating crews to emphasize this is because of the prevalence of concussions — an injury which is just as serious as the broken necks that were resulting from facemasking. It doesn’t matter if it was flagrant or not. Expect to see a lot more of these “questionable” calls in the future football fans.
One last thing for any Vandy or SEC trolls still monitoring this thread. Very classy… throwing debris/liquids at the Big Ten officiating crew as they exited the field. I expected more from Vandy fans. I guess I shouldn’t have though.
just to put a rest to this
this is a screenshot from the video that liar et al posted.
i see two helmets, and they are touching. helmet, helmet. penalty. no question.
that puts a rest to nothing
as that same picture seems to show #84’s helmet touching #72’s helmet, yet the full video clearly shows that didn’t happen.
Come on now, you're better than that....
84 and 72 aren’t on the same plane, so you’re using different levels of depth there. It’s fine to disagree, but that’s a terrible argument.
To me, it looks like the Vandy safety’s helmet is hitting Persa’s. It also looks like their shoulders hit first, but that’s not what was called. And again, still frames of replays is much easier to determine than live action, on the field, with bodies flying around.
"I think so, Brain, but how are we going to get the bacon flavoring into the pencils?"
Well I’m no Vandy/SEC homer (see my name) but this whole thing is getting ridiculous. I guess let’s call it 15 yards literally every time helmets touch? You’re only allowed to tackle low. Wait, no, that’s dangerous and knee injuries end careers. Screw it, let’s play two hand touch.
This whole thing is ruining football. How far are we gonna go? Obviously every time helmets touch there’s not a 15 yard flag. The rule is in place to avoid players leading with the helmet (which, despite the diatribe above, is not what happened. Obviously the shoulder was leading), and spearing guys or intentional helmet contact. Incidental helmet contact on clean tackles, no matter what you guys are trying to say here, are NOT flags or there would be 50 PFs a game. And it’s unclear whether there was ANY on this play, and if there was, it was light. Fullam led with the shoulder, which hit Persa’s shoulder. Great hit, great football play, end of story.
And from what I’ve seen, it’s been mostly Big Ten/midwest refs that have been calling it so closely. Unfortunate to this MAC fan, hopefully things change a little bit.
The Final Word
(http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/091210aaa.html)
Big Ten Comments on Isolated Media Reports Regarding Officiating
Sept. 12, 2010
In response to isolated media reports late last week suggesting that the Big Ten Conference had issued an apology related to an officiating call in the Northwestern-Vanderbilt game on September 4, the Big Ten Conference would like to make clear that it supports judgment calls explicitly intended to protect the health and safety of student-athletes. NCAA football playing rules include specific language that encourages officials, when in doubt, to apply the rules to protect the athletes and the conference fully supports them in these instances. Contrary to isolated media reports, the conference did not issue an apology related to any officiating call in the Northwestern-Vanderbilt game.
The medical research into the long-term effects of concussions is showing this is a very serious problem. Not to be dismissed casually as just part of the game. (Unfortunately, the effects of IEDs and the resulting concussions on soldiers in Iraq & Afghanistan is what has brought the focus to the medical community.)
If it’s only a focus of Big Ten/midwest refs, I support it even more. Once again the Big Ten leads the way in NCAAF.
Take out ")" from link above
Also WMU, maybe those 50 PFs per game should be called. Take a look at this article: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell.
Pay particular attention to this:
This is a crucial point. Much of the attention in the football world, in the past few years, has been on concussions—on diagnosing, managing, and preventing them—and on figuring out how many concussions a player can have before he should call it quits. But a football player’s real issue isn’t simply with repetitive concussive trauma. It is, as the concussion specialist Robert Cantu argues, with repetitive subconcussive trauma. It’s not just the handful of big hits that matter. It’s lots of little hits, too.
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