The Cheat game ball should definitely go to #69 Yosuah Nijman for springing The Wild Thing on that 4th and 9 play for the 1st down.

After reading Will’s comment about The Wild Thing out-juking #7 Jonathan Smith, who “fell down”, I really needed to watch that play again bc that wasn’t how I remembered it.

Sure ‘nuff, as TWT dipped, ducked and dodged his way around the initial four defenders, he was spied by #7, who basically stayed in line with him as he moved right, out of the collapsed pocket. While #7 took an over-agresssive angle which didn’t keep Wild Thing directly upfield from him, and he started to leak further to the right, it was Nijman who knocked #7 to the ground, springing Wild Thing to get the first down.

After Nijman knocked his DE back behind the QB, and Wild Thing then moved out of the pocket, Nijman had the wherewithal to follow the QB out of the pocket and catch #7 as he closed in. Nijman hit him with enough force to knock him down, and he was actually behind #7 when he hit him as well. Did he hit #7 on his side so that it wasn’t a block in the back? Did he grab his arm as he ran by? It’s tough to see the actual point of contact so maybe it shouldn’t have been called.

I’d say he hit him on the back of his right side, and it probably, actually was a block in the back. #7 most likely would have caught Wild Thing in another step or two had Nijman not knocked him down, and that was back at about the LOS, so if #7 had caught him, he likely would not have gotten the first down. #7 did take a bad angle at the beginning, but he was definitely faster and still would have likely made the tackle before Wild Thing crossed the marker.

It wasn’t an egregious hit, and Cheat got away with plenty of holding calls throughout the game, so I’m not really worried about it. In any event, just wanted to give credit where credit was due. If the game truly came down to that series, and consequently, that 4th down with 9 to go, then #69 really won the game for VT.

#unsungheroes

And I know a ton of other players are also responsible for the win at key moments- Rodgers, Quillen, Rambo, Cletus, etc. Just pointing out that one event.








[Post edited by reconhokie at 10/17/2018 05:26AM]