Though Week Zero provided a great deal of entertainment for college football die-hards, Week One of the 2022 college football season began in earnest with a full slate of Thursday night action. The return of the Backyard Brawl between West Virginia and Pittsburgh grabbed part of the spotlight, with a conference battle between Penn State and Purdue among the other notable matchups. However, a play from another game caused a ruckus, and it involved the special teams of South Carolina State.
Midway through the first quarter, South Carolina State trailed UCF by a 7-0 margin, and that was not a shock given that the visitors entered the night as approximately 43-point underdogs against a more talented FBS opponent. From there, South Carolina State faced a fourth-and-long scenario, and all expectations were that the Bulldogs would punt the ball back to UCF. Then, fireworks erupted when the South Carolina State punter took off in an apparent fake attempt and seemingly had at least a modest chance to reach the first down marker.
However, he had other ideas.
What the hell was this pic.twitter.com/jEO3VqIAGL
— Colton Denning (@Dubsco) September 1, 2022
Yes, that is a college punter electing to kick the ball approximately ten full yards beyond the line of scrimmage. That is amusing enough on its own, but the ESPN+ broadcast was utterly baffled by what transpired, adding an extra level of entertainment.
Overall, it’s not the worst result in the world for South Carolina State, and the Bulldogs aren’t likely to pull off the upset no matter what happened on this particular play. Still, you won’t see many punt attempts from this far beyond the line of scrimmage at any level, and it’s Week One for everyone.