Washington Huskies coach Ty Willingham was asked about his thoughts on the Washington/BYU ending that is the currently haunting college football. Surprisingly, Willingham was very generous with his praise for the Pac-10 officiating crew and the now-famous call against his quarterback, Jake Locker that directly effected the outcome of the game.

And by “very generous with his praise,” I mean he was pretty disgusted in the whole matter.

But first, the play in question:

By now, it’s obviously been determined that, by rule, the “correct” call was made — provided the word “judgment” doesn’t enter the equation. For his defense, the lead referee said because the rule was clearly spelled out, judgment didn’t enter into his decision, ignoring the fact that every call is a “judgment call,” something Willingham hinted at:

“I think we all know that it was not the right call,” Willingham said, before then comparing it to the cliché that holding could be called on every play. “There are rules written for them to use discretion, and in this case we didn’t do that. Proper judgment was not used. That was not an act of a young man taunting, not an unsportsmanlike act at all, and therefore it should have been viewed in its totality and not just isolated as to the letter of the law.”

BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall — which might be the best head coach’s name in all of college football — was disappointed in Willingham’s response, saying the official didn’t “decide” the game because the correct call was made. BYU linebacker David Nixon took it a step further by saying:

“What it really came down to is the blocked extra point. At the end of the day, I think it just came down to our will against their will, and it was pretty apparent whose will won.”

Sounds like fighting words to me, or at least material for the bulletin board. Too bad Washington doesn’t play BYU again this season. Perhaps the two teams can meet in a post season bowl game, provided the 0-2 Huskies make it to bowl eligibility.

Tags: Bronco Mendenhall, BYU Cougars, Jake Locker, Pac-10 Football, Suspect Calls, Tyrone Willingham, Washington Huskies

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