Block in BIG 10 Championship

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by sj

With the arguments about the legality of the hit aside for a little bit the announcers and everybody else are asking, "what else is he supposed to do?"

He could have easily lead with his hands and just shoved the defender. Put one or both hands on his right shoulder and push him. A block like this would also totally eliminate him from being able to make a play on the runner.

And it would remove any doubt about any possible foul.

Two problems with this ... A) do we think that every other blocker in every other situation also needs to use minimal force to move their opponent? If not (and I hope your answer is not), then why do we expect it from THIS blocker? B) it required the blocker moving at top speed to get to the defender when he did - is there now some expectation that he can stop his full-speed charge and just tap the defender? If so, why. I'm not just saying this shouldn't be a foul now under current rules, but also saying it should NEVER be a foul. Yes, it's a hard hit... but outlawing this simply means it makes it easier for defenders to escape blockers.