Do you like refs laying blocks in football games? Of course you do. Here is one such event in Saturday’s Miami-North Carolina game in Chapel Hill:
Ref lays crushing block on UNC player to spring Miami for a big gain
The umpire got out of Miami’s way and into UNC’s way.
Miami’s Travis Homer runs a crossing pattern and catches a pass from Malik Rosier. UNC linebacker Jonathan Smith is beaten, and Homer’s going to catch this pass for a decent gain anyway. But the umpire, Troy Riley, jumps out of Homer’s way and directly into Smith’s pass. Riley lays a crushing block on the UNC linebacker, springing Homer upfield for a huge gain. The Canes should send this ref a fruit basket.
Riley probably feels bad about this, but umpiring is a hard job. Of all the people on the officiating crew, the umpire is the one most in the thick of things every play. He lines up in the middle of the defense, and when the play comes at him quickly, there’s often not much he can do to get out of the way. In this case, getting out of Homer’s way involved putting himself directly in the path of an oncoming linebacker.
At least Riley has terrific core and lower-body strength.
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