Washington State linebacker Devin Richardson was not paying attention during Saturday’s college football game against Oregon and got absolutely hammered by Justin Herbert’s brother. He paid a dear, dear price.
Ducks running back Bucky Irving caught a swing pass out of the backfield on 1st-and-10 from the Cougars 42-yard-line and took it all the way to the end zone for the touchdown. There was only one man to beat as the ballcarrier reached the 25— Richardson.
Irving had an advantage. It was not just 1-on-1. It was 2-on-1.
The Chargers starting quarterback’s nearly identical little brother, Patrick, was out in front as a blocker. The junior tight end stands 6-foot-5, 255 pounds and was running full speed.
Richardson is two inches shorter and about 20 pounds lighter. For whatever reason, he was not in the play at that point. His focus was on his teammate, who was just blocked out of bounds.
Meanwhile, as Irving chugged along down the sideline, Herbert was a heat-seeking missile headed right for Richardson.
As soon as the latter turned back toward the play (kind of, not really), he got blown up.
Rocked. Crushed. Obliterated. Mollywhopped. All of those words apply in this situation.
Richardson was destroyed. The redshirt senior, who spent time at New Mexico State and Texas prior to Washington State, never saw it coming. By the time that he did, it was too late.
There was not much that Richardson could have done in that situation. However, to add salt to the wound, he was the only one with any chance of stopping the touchdown. He needed to make a play.
The Oregon coaching staff is going to have a field day come film review on Monday. Richardson is going to be on the wrong end of a serious arse chewing!