Being a referee is tough. The game moves very fast and because of that, it’s easy to miss penalties that should have been called or call ones that didn’t happen. The officials in Thursday’s game between South Carolina State and Central Florida, though, got an easy one, thanks to Bulldogs punter, Dyson Roberts.
South Carolina State lined up to punt on a fourth-and-19. Given the significant yardage needed to pick up a first down, it didn’t seem like a punt was that likely. This was was especially true since the Bulldogs had successfully faked a punt earlier in the possession, with Roberts running to pick up the yards. South Carolina State, though, appeared to double down on the trick plays, though, with Roberts taking off. That’s when things got weird.
Roberts picked up most of the yardage needed. But with some Knights closing on him, he was running out of room. So, picking up the first down was possible, but far from a lock. At that point, Roberts decided to cut his losses and punted the ball. The good news is that he got a pretty good punt off. The ball didn’t come to rest until it was at UCF’s four-yard line. The bad news? He was well ahead of the line of scrimmage. So, it was a penalty.
The penalty nullified the punt. Still, college football fans loved the ingenuity from Roberts.
Whether it’s college, the NFL, high school, or even Pop Warner, we’re probably not going to see another play like this on the gridiron any time soon.
About Michael Dixon
About Michael:
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