Wonder if he finally managed to get a souvenir Eric Striker jersey after the game. Dude had been trying to rip it off all night long and never was called for it...
I loved how the play to get the defensive TD shows him blatantly and desperately pulling Striker back, and the commentators didn't ONCE mention in passing, "Even being held, Striker would not be stopped." Striker owned him.
Any OT worth his salt would try to hold in that situation. Striker had him beat and if he gets to the QB, the game is over. If he gets a holding call, they at least still have a chance.
They also held Grissom all night long too. Especially at the end of the first half. The ONE holding call on Bama was declined because we forced a 4th down anyway. Not even the black/white can stop us.
No problem with the OT trying to "save the game", but a very conspicuous lack of laundry for a very blatant hold.
Refs don't call holding on the OL just because a jersey gets pulled, it has to impede the player. I'm not saying that wasn't holding, you would have to watch the video and not the still picture. At full speed, it didn't look like Striker was impeded, but I'm going from memory. Personally, I thought the refs called a great game. That PI call on Shepard was critical and was not an easy call. At full speed and from the first camera angle, I couldn't tell. But the review from the end zone clearly showed the DB hooking Shepard's arm early and that's exactly what caused the incomplete as it was a perfect pass. Many refs would bury their flag in their pocket at that point in the game. I loved seeing Saban go ballistic over it The 2 bad calls at the end of the 1st half sort of canceled each other. The phantom "throat slash" gave Bama good field position on the kickoff, but missing the "Striker photo op" pushed Bama back and may have saved us points. Other than that, the refs did a fine job.
I'm still not convinced Striker's helmet didn't partially get knocked loose by the sack. The facemask drags down McCarron's back and easily could have been jostled. He sure didn't look like he was fixing it the way he took it off, but the official was right on top of the play and didn't do anything. Also, did Alabama call a timeout after the play?
I was kind of curious how Eric Striker ended up at OU, and even if you've already heard the story, it's worth reading again. Linky It's games like these that matter to recruits. Win or lose, have a strong bowl showing and you'll have recruits from out of state that want to be Sooners.
The result on the play pretty much indicates the hold didn't impede Striker from getting to the QB and forcing the fumble. As I recall, it was pretty much a last gasp effort by the lineman at that point. Still a great photo though. No arguing that the Ref's for the most part called a good game. Always a lot of "homerism" coming into play when viewing their calls.
Agreed, it's a great photo - definitely one of those "picture worth a thousand words" things. It shows desperation and the reason for the desperation I was actually commenting to my wife during the game how well I thought the refs were calling it compared to other bowls. I do admit to getting a little riled after the "throat slash" call, but I'm not complete impartial
