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Tribune Newspapers: Newport News Daily Press
January 5, 2006
Virginia Tech players were out of control during the first half of the Gator Bowl, and Hokies quarterback Marcus Vick should have been ejected for stomping on a prone Louisville defender, the game's referee said Wednesday.
Steve Usecheck, a Big 12 Conference official who led the crew for Monday's game, called Tech's first-half taunting and late hits the worst he has seen in his 22 seasons. But he said no official saw Vick stomp the back of Elvis Dumervil's leg while Dumervil was down on the turf late in the second quarter.
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"We missed that, and I'm sorry we did," Usecheck said from his Colorado home.
"The TV, everybody saw it but us. I wish we had the opportunity to talk to [Vick] because that was complete [expletive]. You bet I would have thrown his [expletive] out."
Usecheck said he had not seen a replay of the Vick incident but that purposely stomping a defenseless opponent warrants ejection. NBC showed the incident several times during its Gator Bowl telecast, and the footage has aired countless times since on ESPN and other networks. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver has called Vick's action "unacceptable" and vowed to punish him.
Officials called five personal fouls against the Hokies during the first half, four that cost Tech yardage and one that was offset by a Louisville personal foul.
"I was really disappointed," Usecheck said. "We don't see football like that [in the Big 12]. Those kids were just completely out of control. Louisville wasn't as bad. Virginia Tech was brutal."
Usecheck ejected Hokies All-America cornerback Jimmy Williams in the first quarter for swinging his arm at head linesman Al Green. Williams was jawing with Louisville's Amobi Okoye, and Green grabbed Williams to separate the two.
"He never hit the official, but he swung at him twice," Usecheck said of Williams.
During the standard meeting of team captains before the second half, Usecheck said he told the players: "I don't care if I'm out here until midnight calling penalties. This has got to stop."
The second half was incident-free aside from offsetting personal fouls early in the fourth quarter, and the Hokies rallied to win 35-24.
Tech coach Frank Beamer was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached. But immediately after the game, Beamer said: "I'm not happy with some things that went on in the first half. Let's leave it at that."
Weaver said it would be inappropriate for him to comment on the Hokies' overall behavior because he viewed the game from the press-box level and not the field. But Weaver reaffirmed his promise to discipline Vick, first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference choice this season as a junior.
"We've got to deal with it in a fair and firm manner, but you just can't go off half-cocked," Weaver said. "We'll get it done, I'll guarantee it."
Having Vick away from campus on semester break and Beamer on the road recruiting slows the process, according to Weaver, who estimated he had received 200 e-mails about the Vick incident.
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