In the opening night of the NCAA football season, the Oregon Ducks battled the Boise State Broncos.  The game pitted two teams hungry to win the game – albeit for different reasons.

Oregon was a power conference team looking for a strong out-of-conference win to add to its postseason resume’.  Boise State was a perennial top dog in its conference (the WAC), and was looking for that big non-conference win against a premier opponent that would put them in the hunt to be a bonafide ‘BCS buster.’

But I don’t think any one of us were prepared for the fireworks after the game.  At the conclusion of the Broncos’ decisive 19-8 victory over the Ducks, there was the normal fluctuation of people (players, media and fans) on the field.  In the midst of all of this was what may turn out to be one of the most discussed moments of the season. 

LeGarrett Blount was on the field, seemingly making his way through the postgame traffic.  Boise State player Byron Hout tapped Blount on the shoulder pads, yelled something in his direction and then turned and walked away.  Then the unthinkable happened – Blount stopped in his tracks for a split second, spinned around and jabbed Hout flush in the jaw.

Hout will undoubtedly be joked on in the locker room for crumbling like a sack of potatoes.  Blount’s punch didn’t look like it had much behind it, but from Hout’s collapse you would certainly think otherwise.  That’s the stuff of lifelong jabs from your closest friends.

The running back from Perry, Florida was suspended for the rest of the season.  So, he loses the rest of his college career from his blatant overreaction.  He will be able to practice and condition with the team.

As for Byron Hout, there has been no mention of any action against him to this point.  If the NCAA / Boise State has any sense of morality at all, Hout should see a one-to-two game suspension.  While it’s hard to manage trash talk, the bottom line in this situation is that the footage clearlyshows instigation followed by the punch.  We don’t have to guess as to what caused Blount to react the way that he did – - it was whatever Hout said to him.  Now we’ll never really know what he said, but it probably wasn’t “Good game bro”…

The suspension of Blount, a senior who proved to be a standout rusher for the Ducks, is a tremendous blow to the Oregon offense.  Last season he put together a stellar campaign including 1,002 yards, 17 TDs and an average of 7.3 yards per carry.  As reported by collegefootballnews.com, LeGarrett has been listed as the 7th best running back for the 2010 NFL Draft – and some reports have his ranking being as high as 2nd.  Based on the fact that Blount has a potential NFL career at stake, I think the terms of the suspension were great.  This was a good job at not allowing one bad move potentially ruined this young man’s life.  The ruling gives LeGarrett every opportunity to salvage what he can from his talent.

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