Football
Move on, Bear fans: Even ASU receiver surprised about call, but let it go
Everybody, including the fans, can’t let loss to Red Wolves cost them two games, regardless of how bitter it is.
CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas’ loss Saturday night in Jonesboro, Ark., is going to linger awhile. It shouldn’t.
Even Corey Rucker, the Red Wolves’ receiver that made the winning catch in the corner of the end zone, may have been more surprised than anyone at the original call by the officials of a catch.
Corey Rucker on the #AState game-winner postgame: "In my mind, I didn't think it was a catch just because I thought they were reviewing for possession."
Butch Jones in the background: "It was a catch. Always a catch." 🤣
Video: KAIT pic.twitter.com/lQwVLDxKNP
— Jack Allen KATV (@JackAllenTV) September 1, 2024
ASU coach Butch Jones was in the background telling him it was a catch, but that’s what coaches do. Even I got it wrong in my initial story Saturday night after the game. The replay views on ESPN+ didn’t show the juggling.
KATV 7 out of Little Rock was in better position, though. Like it or not, though, the officials have to go with what they have. Trust me, you don’t want the problem that would arise from officials going over to poll the television video crews. These reviews take long enough.
On the final play from scrimmage, Jaylen Raynor connected with Corey Rucker for a game-winning TD.
The question: Was it actually a catch??
Judge for yourself. #FCS #UCA #AState pic.twitter.com/qEPonVi9ZQ
— Jack Allen KATV (@JackAllenTV) September 1, 2024
Don’t worry about it and just let it go. Yeah, that will be a little difficult, but don’t let a screwed-up call have an affect next week against Lindenwood. You can gripe about it for months, but it won’t change the outcome.
That loss won’t have any impact for the Bears come playoff time, either. If there was a shocking upset by an FCS team over an FBS team I missed it. Even the defending champions, South Dakota State, went down to Stillwater, Okla., and got blasted by Oklahoma State, 44-20.
“Obviously you leave Jonesboro with a sour taste in your mouth,” UCA coach Nathan Brown said later. “That’s unfortunate. We came to win the and I thought we had every opportunity in the second half to put enough plays together to win the game.
“The last thing I told them was I was so dang proud of what they accomplished. And it’s unfortunate that it ended on a defensive play because they had a hell of a night. It’s a tough one to swallow. There is a lot to build on. We’re excited.”
When it comes to moving up in classification, FCS teams usually are overmatched a little against FBS teams. It comes down to budgets, scholarships and a lot of other boring stuff. Unless it’s the only win of the year for an FBS team, it won’t damage UCA that much for the playoffs.
If they don’t let the sting of the loss to ASU cost them more than one game. Coaches talk about not letting a single loss cost you the next game, too. Brown knows this. Probably the players do, too.
“There’s a lot of good to pull out of this,” Brown said. He didn’t waste a lot of time on details nobody was really ready to hear about after the sting of the loss was fresh.
Now the fans have got to get over it by Monday and recognize the good with the bad. They play a role, too.
