Referee Dan Capron's crew (Big Ten Conference) ejected Illinois Fighting Illini safety Earnest Thomas III for helmet-to-helmet contact during a Penn State touchdown in the second quarter of the Illini-Nittany Lions game. With 3:11 remaining, Matt Lehman received a 21-yard pass attempt from QB Matt McGloin for a touchdown as Thomas delivered the illegal hit, resulting in a personal foul/unnecessary roughness penalty, enforced on the ensuing kickoff. Replays indicate Thomas delivered the illegal helmet-to-helmet contact after Lehman had already scored the touchdown and was several feet into the end zone, the call was correct. The flag appeared to have been thrown by back judge Jack Lyman. At the time of the ejection, the Nittany Lions were leading, 21-0.
*When not officiating, Capron is an attorney and name partner at the law firm Capron & Avgerinos, P.C., located in Illinois. He received his JD from Indiana's Bloomington School of Law and his BA in history from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).
Wrap: Penn State Nittany Lions vs. Illinois Fighting Illini, 9/29/12
Video: McGloin holds on for TD as Thomas launches an illegal hit to the head, is ejected (ESPN)
Looks like an awful ejection to me.
ReplyDeleteIs there a new rule in college that if you do this you get ejected? Makes sense if you cant fine them I guess. But this happens all the time at all levels of football.
ReplyDeleteI understand the safety aspect and not leading with the head. I get it. Really, it's what I do for a living. But something the broadcaster said really made sense to me and I agree with him. This definitely should have been a penalty. I don't think there are many who would disagree with the personal foul in this incident. But I believe there is enough of a question as to where that runner is at to question ejecting the player. Two steps previous and he's not in the end zone yet.
ReplyDeleteIf we're going to say that contact in the end-zone is "intent to injure," then there needs to be a lot more ejections.
I challenge the ruling the ejection was correct. At real time speed, it is ridiculous to claim this should result in an ejection. I also challenge the characterization he was "several feet" into the end zone. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeletedefinitely a penalty,
ReplyDeleteprobably an ejection under the rules if i understand them right, but i don't know about kicking someone out for that though,
I watched the video again. The received had exactly ONE foot in the endzone at the time of the collision. 15 yard penalty for helmet-to-helmet contact, but not an ejection! Now the defender will be suspended for the hit as well..
ReplyDeleteDo we seriously have another night with no baseball ejections? That sucks.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mlb-umpires-strike-article-1.1170059
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting article that sounds like a bunch of BS at the same time. I highly doubt three umpires were let go in the middle of the season, that just does not happen in the MLB unless you are Al Clark and downgrade airline tickets. However, there is one CC who has been missing for awhile and had some blown calls this year (Brewers-Giants May 5), Ed Rapuano. Eddide does not strike as the type that can't take the pressure though, plus I saw him holding his back in one of his last appearances of the year. As for the three that were let go for off the field issues, I don't believe that for a second, I can only speculate Hunter Wendlstedt, and Mike Dimuro as they have missed a lot of time this season and Hunter has been out about as long as Rapuano. Brian Runge has been missing since the beginning of September and consistently rates at the bottom, but again this whole article just screams pure nonsense to me. I like Bill Madden a lot and he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame for a reason, but he is a Yankee centric writer and it shows in many of his articles.
The challenge is summarily denied. Similar to UEFL ejections, CCS does not judge QOC of an ejection, but of the call immediately preceding ejection. The personal foul penalty was correct; therefore QOC is correct.
ReplyDeleteBad ejection. Personal foul for sure, but they screwed up by ejecting him.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a cheap shot.
ReplyDeleteI missed the game, heard about the hit and the ejection.... this is my first view of it.....Definitely a personal foul.... awfully close to the goal line, though; and not much of a "launch".... I was surprised at the ejection.... and that's from a Penn Stater
ReplyDelete