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Everything Went Wrong For Punters In The Military Bowl

On the face of it, the Military Bowl between San Jose State and Bowling Green looked like the least compelling of the three bowl games today. It had the least desirable time slot. It’s the only one of the games that isn’t a matchup of BCS conference programs. But sports are awfully good at providing the unexpected, and the game – which San Jose State ultimately won 29-20 – was nothing if not interesting.

And a chief reason for that is the facet of football that’s normally among the least interesting: punting. It all started when, apparently, San Jose State punter Harrison Waid thought he should have gotten a roughing call. He thought this so passionately, in fact, that when he didn’t get the call he was looking for, he freaked out a little. And as it turned out, this was no ordinary freakout: it was a freakout so spirited that Waid injured himself mid-rant and had to not only leave the game, but go to the hospital for X-rays. So it was backup punter time for San Jose State. How’d that go? Uh…

Not the best. And here it is in gif form, via Guyism:

“Wow, bad luck for San Jose State punting today,” you think. To which we respond: it’s not just the Spartans having trouble, pal:

So: two punt blocks, and a punter hospitalization due to a tantrum. Even in the college game, where the dropoff from the NFL in special teams play is especially noticeable, we can’t remember punters having this rough a day. Well, we guess every day is kind of a rough day for punters, since they tend to be the black sheep of the football world (sometimes by their own admission). But today’s been especially bad. Poor guys. Even if they’re not real football players, never forget: punters are people, too.

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