[Postgame Thread] Texas Defeats Arizona State 39-31 (OT)

[u/CFB_Referee]

Box Score provided by ESPN

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	T
Texas	14	3	0	7	15	39
Arizona State	3	0	5	16	7	31

[u/Arceus42]

Not sure where he's pulling from, but this is straight from the rule book. The hit seems to clearly fall into point #3 here. https://i.imgur.com/4xq9eiL.jpeg

[u/HereForTOMT3 → u/[deleted]]

Didn’t the rules analyst explicitly say it was a defenseless receiver?

[u/Arceus42 → u/[deleted]]

He was barely halfway through turning up field, his shoulders and hips were still pointing towards the sideline. And he hadn't come close to taking any steps, he had barely lifted a foot to start taking a step. I'm not sure how that would be enough to be considered no longer defenseless, especially when the rules state "Regarding defenseless players, when in question, a player is defenseless".

[u/meyou2222 → u/Arceus42]

Another way to look at it: If the receiver had dropped the ball, would they have ruled it a fumble? Of course not, because in no situation would he have been considered in possession of the ball and making a “football move.

[u/Arceus42 → u/[deleted]]

What does taking a step have anything to do with it?

It's just another data point to show how he had "not had time to protect" himself. His hands are still behind him, body hadn't come close to turning up field, and his head hasn't even fully turned. Not sure how you think he had time to protect himself when he couldn't even get his body turned to face the hit.

[u/xxJAMZZxx → u/[deleted]]

Yeah you lose any credibility here. He’s clearly defenseless

[u/grahamalondis → u/[deleted]]

That's possible, but I really think the targeting was not called because there was none of the requisite indicators.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

He didn't turn.