In today’s Fact or Fiction, I look at three big recent topics in college football and decide whether the statement is indeed FACT or if it’s FICTION.
1. Henry Blackburn intended to injure Travis Hunter.
Farrell’s take: FACT
After watching the play from a different angle it’s clear that the CSU safety tried to injure Travis Hunter.
https://twitter.com/joshreynolds24/status/1703987924776235090
The ball was on the ground, and there was zero chance at a completion anyhow, and he rose up and hit Hunter anyhow. It wasn’t as blatant as some I’ve seen, and he could have made it a lot worse and even more dangerous, but it was clearly an intent to injure.
2. Blackburn should be suspended for the rest of the season or for however long Hunter is out.
Farrell’s take: FICTION
That’s not how this works. An on-field hit results in a penalty or a targeting suspension, and that’s pretty much it. These rules will likely change and change sooner than later with all the attention being paid to this, but to say let’s end Blackburn’s career or have him out until Hunter returns is just over the top. Illegal hits sometimes result in no loss of playing time for an opponent, and sometimes they can end careers. But we can’t suspend based on that result.
3. The coaches have some responsibility here.
Farrell’s take: FACT
The adults need to be included in this discussion. The hype leading up to the game over sunglasses turned into real vitriol pre-game and made this a dirty game, and the head coaches need to be blamed. In-state rivalry games are always chippy, but this became a sideshow of sorts, and whether it’s Deion Sanders having his team take everything “personally” or Jay Norvell clearly instructing his team to play more physically than normal, this was bound to happen.
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