Side judge plows over man on sideline during CFB player’s 100-yard kickoff return for TD
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
During football games, players need to keep their heads on a swivel at all times.
Sometimes, that includes non-players on the sidelines, too. During Thursday night’s game between Arkansas State and South Alabama, one person found that out the hard way.
It happened late in the first quarter, with the Red Wolves and Jaguars tied at 7-7 after Arkansas State answered South Alabama’s touchdown drive with one of their own. The ensuing kickoff went to South Alabama’s Keenan Phillips, who took it the other way for a score.
As Phillips ran up the field, the side judge assigned to the game tried to keep pace. That’s when this happened:
As of the time of this writing, we a) don’t know who the man on the sideline is; b) why he was standing there; and c) how he’s doing. The good news? At least it was the side judge and not some big defensive lineman.
The game itself has been every bit of the adventure you’d expect a weeknight Sun Belt game to be. At halftime, South Alabama leads Arkansas State 34-28. That’s despite South Alabama quarterback Jared Hollins throwing for just 69 yards on 5-of-9 passing and Arkansas State totaling just 52 yards on the ground.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
