The art of (unsuccessfully) taking a knee

(Photo: House of Sparky)

Who would have thought taking a knee could be so difficult? The quarterback takes the snap, drops to one knee at the desired spot between the hash marks, tosses the ball to the umpire and prepares to spike the ball to get the field goal unit on the field. At least, that is how it was supposed to go for Joel Stave tonight.

Where do you even start? There is Stave running into the back of his own lineman, taking a knee while doing so, then taking a couple steps forward after kneeing to place the ball down. Or how about Arizona State linebacker Anthony Jones falling on the ball after Stave placed it down, thinking that it was a fumble? Or, and maybe worst of all, you have Stave arguing with head referee Jack Folliard while the clock continues to wind down. All of these occurrences don’t add up to the simple formula Wisconsin was trying to follow when taking a knee.

Sure, the referees played a role in botching those final few seconds of play. The umpire, Douglas Wilson, could have shown more urgency in getting Jones off the football and marking it ready for play. And yes, they could have very easily called a delay of game penalty too. But can you really fault Jones, and the entire Sun Devil defense for the matter, for thinking that bizarre attempt at a kneel-down was a fumble?

Wisconsin was the patient team all night. They let the Sun Devils make silly mistake after silly mistake. They were the team with the sophomore quarterback orchestrating a game-winning drive for the first time in his collegiate career. They had the running game to wear down the opposition in the fourth quarter. They were the team that deserved to win the game.

But then again, who would have thought taking a knee could be so difficult?

You can reach Alex Gallant on Twitter @seatownsports or you can email him at Alex.Gallant@asu.edu

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