Just last week, a player from University of Virginia-Wise was on the receiving end of the biggest hit that we had seen so far this season in college football.
One week later, they've caught our attention again for pulling off the young season's most remarkable punt return.
Trailing, 27-30, in the closing seconds of their game against Emory & Henry, Marcus Bratton of UVA-Wise fielded a punt at his team's 30-yard line. Running behind a few key blocks, Bratton makes his way across the field and then turns up the sideline. The shifty returner starts to cut back into the middle of the field, impressively weaving his way through opponents. But he loses his footing as he evades a diving attempt at a tackle near the opponent's 35-yard line. As the junior return man is falling toward the ground, he turns what was already an impressive return into a potential play of the year. Just before he hits the turf, Bratton heaves the ball into the air. Bratton's teammate, Josh Wright, snags the lateral out of the air while motoring downfield at full speed. Wright sprints unmolested all the way to the end zone to give UVA-Wise the improbable victory in a the Southwest Virginia Bowl.
It looks like at least one of the UVA-Wise players trying to block the punt may have made contact with the punter as he followed through with his kick, but the referees held onto their flags. YouTube thanks them. Seeing as how the punter still managed to unfurl a 60-yard blast it's possible -- although it doesn't look that way from the angle of this video -- that the he merely landed on those would-be punt blockers as opposed to being hit by them. Perhaps that's what the refs are explaining the man, presumably an E&H coach, as they shove him off the field about 40 seconds into the video.
Although the refs surely wouldn't have guessed that such a spectacular finish was in the offing when they held onto their flags, Dr. Saturday's breakdown of the no-call should be enough for those of us simply enjoying this viral video without any vested interest in either team: "I suppose the referee was taking a big-picture approach to the moment: Either Emory and Henry makes the tackle and the penalty doesn't matter, or you've got yourself one of the most memorable plays of the year on any level."
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