Does it happen a lot? yes.

Is it bad? yes

Is it a dirty play? hell yes, no doubt

Then again, I don’t really care. I don’t mind that our defense plays dirty from time to time, so long as 99% of the time we’re bringing the pain it’s a good, clean hit. I’d rather have this than a bunch of choir boys. And this happens all the time.

BUT….. Branch needs to be suspended. That’s just the reality of the situation. Regardless of how often it happens, once it’s caught on tape and blown up like this, there’s no other option.

DrB and FigureFour, I am finally here boys!!! Allow me to make my first comment on what seems to be a rather controversial subject.

Should Branch be suspended for grabbing a man’s helmet and pulling it back while fighting for a fumble? No more than a player should be suspended for tackling someone by their faskmask, i.e. the type that called for the “old” 15 yd penalty. I did not see any evidence of fingers going into the facemask. I think FSU fans have taken this thing and run with it because they are not playing up to par and may miss their first bowl game since the 70s. I understand that players should be disciplined, but a suspension is a little harsh, even though a precedent seems to have been set by the Spikes incident.

If our coaches do decide to suspend him, can we choose when we want to suspend him, i.e. Spurrier?? We won’t need him the first half of the USC game.

Until next time, ladies…

I’m waiting on Nigel Bradham’s response to the video Clemson fans are posting and b##ching about for his slinging CJ down out of bounds in the 4th quarter. He was clearly going out of bounds, there was no flag, and he was clearly trying to cripple CJ. But there is no video of that, Bradham wasn’t trying to hurt Spiller and Clemson fans aren’t whinning about it, so…

I saw Branch do that when I rewatched the game. He made a good play keeping Spurlock from getting at the fumble. Then he got all “extra-curricular” on him. I laughed when he got up and signalled Tiger ball. and then I saw the replay and understood Spurlock’s anger. Yes it was cheap, but an eye gouge? No. He did something that Brandon Maye has a bad habit of doing, grabbing a players helmet when he’s got him down (more unsportsman-like taunting) which is petty and rubbing it in, I wouldn’t condone it as a coach, and I would make sure he understood that that isn’t how you should play, but not suspend him. That stuff has a way of escalating more chippy play during a game.And you start getting chopped by the opposing O-line. Again Maye does crap like that more than anyone on the team, and gets grilled by the coaches to calm down.

I’ve got respect for Tomahawk nation (lurk over there like I do here). They are a cool set of fans, far more than any I ever ran into when I live in Tally. However it’s funny how some missed Spurlock jawing at the D line earlier before that play (but it’s not on Youtube like Branches actions.) Rewatch the game and it’s evident that the teams were going back and forth. Jarvis Jenkins swung a punch that got flagged, and rightfully so. There was some things going on in the trenches between the two teams (like most football games). But again Branch was rubbing it in, not trying to hurt the guy. If so, Spurlock would have done something about it. Heck, Trickett is his coach; my o-line coach from high school would have made us pay the next week in practice if we didn’t stand up for ourselves (the right way of course). And Trickett is a heck of a lot meaner than he was.

And I’d like to add, I remember the FSU defenses of old, taking knee shots at every qb they could (ask Joe Hamilton about his encounters with that defense). FSU intimidating opposing offenses especially after the quarterback pass releases (Peter Boulware taking two steps and hitting Nealon Greane after the ball was gone) and along the sidelines (well mostly two yards deep on the sidelines), with plenty of FSU fans bragging about “Mickey’s Defense’s” knocking qbs out of games. However, I didn’t whine about the other team. I wanted to see the team I cheered for fight back (legally of course) and not take that type of “sportsmanship” from anyone. FSU’s line did that by playing good on Saturday (real good: they are the real deal! I was impressed with them.) Now it seems some fans have a lil’ taste of the other side of football life.

I’m sorry they lost Ponder for the season ( I hate to see any player get hurt). Almost all of their fans would have hated to see any of our players have that happen to them as well. But they should be thankful that by his own choice Ponder got hurt legally, not knocked out because RIcky Sapp took a cue from the ghosts of FSU’s defenses of the past and practiced sub-marining into his knees on pass rushes. Hope Ponder get’s well, and hope the few whinners realize if Branch wanted to hurt Spurlock, he probably could with little effort.

to tell his side of the story as well. Branch should expect his actions on the field to scrutinized along with others for the rest of the year. If he is punished internally by the team, again, Branch knows it is all on him and will take the punishment. If later on he goes all Sergio Kindle and starts tapping quarterbacks in the jaw with his head like they were named Taylor Potts, ripping helmets off the heads of receivers like a Taylor Mays or does the “Tallahassee two step” (Boulware and Wadsworth were experts :) on opposing qbs after they released the ball, I will kindly join the movement to call for his banishment. He did something that was unnecessary and unsportsman-like just to rub in in Spurlock’s face (taunting). Neither Steele or Sweeney strike me as the type of coaches that condone that type of behavior.

The fact is what he did does not even compare to what Spikes was trying to do (injure a guy). And yes I have seen the “grabbing the face mask to keep a guy away from the fumble” type move in a football game before. It didn’t receive the pr push that this play on Saturday did. However, these same acts that have occurred in the past didn’t have the “Brandon Spikes, Da Thug” to compare it too, either. I just hope EVERY player on Every team in the ACC are made aware that cheap late hits on the sideline (FSU and BC), leading with helmet (Da U), crippling chop blocks (GaTech), leg whipping (VaTech), horse collar tackling (UNC) and face mask snatching (Clemson) will not be tolerated. The conference doesn’t need to resort to weekly SEC battle tactics.

Branch’s action are extreme but after the Spikes incident in the FL/GA game, it’s clear that going for a fumble and confusing, frustrating and distracting the opponent for that moment (including pain) is what is done to recover (or keep the opponent from recovering) a fumble. This has been confirmed by every Ex-player I’ve listened to on sports talk radio. The actions were done in response to a fumble. If you focus on the play BEFORE the fumble you will see that Branch jumped on the FSU player to stop him from going after the fumble or because he thought the player had the ball and he wanted to jar it loose. Either way, it’s football, not a dirty play. I’m sure it would have been a 15 yard technical if the Ref’s had seen it but why should they when they didn’t see any of the numerous late hits out of bounds that the FSU players were getting on Clemson.

“Do the right thing, Dabo!” How pathetic that FSU bloggers have spent 2 days bitching about something that has absolutely no effect on their team in any way. How far they’ve fallen.