Not Quite Down

As I've often stated, I'm not a football fan.  I also really, really don't understand people's on going facination with college sports past the age of say 26 or 27.  That said, I play trivia at a bar on Monday nights and after last night's game ended the sound for the college bowl championship was on the turned on in the bar.  The defining play of the game was when Auburn's Michael Dyer was not quite tackled.

This is the start of the "not quite tackle."

Here he is getting up.

The ruling on the field - and upheld on review - was that he was not actually tackled, not down.  As far as my understanding of the rule is - a knee or other body part has to touch the ground - I tend to think the ruling was correct.  Some people disagree and think his ankle touching the ground in the second picture is proof he was down.

The nuance of this rule is not the point though.  Dyer's run was interrupted - full on stopped - and he was brought down to the ground.  Because the tackling player was in front of the Dyer and fell underneath Dyer shouldn't matter.  Dyer for all practical definitions was tackled.  The play should have been over.

Instead, because of quirky rule he wasn't technically down and he continued on down the field.  Good for Dyer for knowing the rules and continuing to play.  Bad on Oregon for not knowing the rules and stopping play before the whistle was blown.

Flat out, the rule is stupid.