Derek Hall Safety: Stanford O-Lineman Makes Costly Mistake In Orange Bowl (VIDEO)

A Stanford offensive lineman made a bizarre mistake late in the first quarter against Virginia Tech in the 2011 Orange Bowl on Monday night.

On third-and-10 at Stanford's 5-yard-line, Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck dropped back, but faced heavy pressure from the Hokie defense. With Virginia Tech's John Graves attempting to pull the quarterback down in the end zone, Luck threw a pass hoping to avoid the safety.

However, Virginia Tech defensive lineman Antoine Hopkins deflected it and the ball flew back into the end zone near the field goal post. Stanford offensive lineman Derek Hall inexplicably caught the ball and quickly went to the ground, giving the Hokies a safety. Scroll down to watch the play.

WATCH:

Comments

[Quotidien]

07:30 PM on 01/05/2011

I thought Stanford students were smart?

[BrightLitBlueSkies]

02:58 PM on 01/05/2011

Yes it was so costly for Stanford that they went on to beat the tar out of Virginia Tech. What a terrible game changing mistake that wasn't.
This is going to keep happening every year for Tech until they get their recruiting act together. Virginia has football talent, but it almost all goes out of state because Beamerball is great, but only in the ACC. Take a step outside the ACC and Tech gets whacked, time and time again.

[bridgeman]

01:49 AM on 01/05/2011

Costly mistake? they kicked there arse!

next time...check the final score before posting this kind of stuff...it only hurts HP's already anemic reputation in sports journalism

embarrassing!

[bridgeman]

01:50 AM on 01/05/2011

that's "their" are.....

[SpaghettyIrish]

12:54 AM on 01/05/2011

The kid took a safety and prevented a touchdown. Where's the mistake?

[NickGranite]

09:04 AM on 01/05/2011

If he had let the ball drop it would have been an incomplete pass.

[SpaghettyIrish]

12:36 PM on 01/05/2011

or it would have gone out of the back of the endzone, resulting in a safety anyway.

[CANTHATBE]

11:37 PM on 01/04/2011

Is this the never ending bowl season. The bowls get greedier and greedier and then are alarmed if a kid sells his jersey etc. They used to be over Jan. 1

[JAYDUBELL]

11:25 PM on 01/04/2011

Yup. He's a lineman.

[gcogs]

11:52 PM on 01/04/2011

HAHAHAHa

[westbygoddoug]

09:24 PM on 01/04/2011

Good to see the football fans here realize he did the right thing. ALWAYS cover up that ball. There is no such thing as time to think...you assume that is a fumble and get on it.

[jwb2013]

08:09 PM on 01/04/2011

He did what he was taught to do. Next story.

[StringHerBell]

07:54 PM on 01/04/2011

I don't know how costly that was actually; Stanford won by like, four touchdowns.

[TheWaffle]

07:04 PM on 01/04/2011

Such a costly mistake that Stanford barely scraped by with only a 28 point win.

[jymfrancais]

05:52 PM on 01/04/2011

Just a natural reaction, i would think, things go so fast..

[elemental775]

05:39 PM on 01/04/2011

It wasn't that big of a mistake. He's a lineman. He is taught to get the ball and get to the ground.

[heymack]

05:06 PM on 01/04/2011

What was the flag being thrown?  It looked like it might have been a holding call against Stamford w;hich would have resulted in a safety anyway making the linemen's supposed mess up a wash.

[AtticusinPa]

09:03 PM on 01/04/2011

Yes, I thought I saw holding, too. But the back judge was looking right at the "receiver" when he tossed the flag. I think it was an ineligible receiver. A lineman cannot catch a forward pass, even in his own endzone. Especially in his own endzone!

[Adam Story]

11:07 AM on 01/05/2011

After a ball is tipped it is fair game. There are no ineligible receivers or passer interference after the ball has been touched.

[SCboy]

04:57 PM on 01/04/2011

I love to listen to the guys in the booth making it all sound so easy. Some of my favorites are, "That's a catch he has to make", or "He had a man wide open and missed him". Things happen in split seconds in sports. Give the players a break for cripesake.

[captainpoco]

05:52 PM on 01/04/2011

I know, I gave up a huge sack the other day when I missed a blitzing lineback and was kicking myself but these things happen so fast it's mind boggling.

[parlimentMike]

04:49 PM on 01/04/2011

There's always a trade-off between thinking and concentration.