North Carolina State offensive lineman Anthony Belton was ejected for spitting on a Clemson player during the first half of Saturday’s college football game in South Carolina. ESPN, specifically Molly McGrath, tried to justify his behavior with a false claim of retaliation.
However, what she said happened to initiate the incident never happened.
The whole thing went down with just under a minute left in the second quarter when Belton, a legitimate NFL prospect, got beat around the edge and gave up a sack. Quarterback C.J. Bailey was wrapped up in the backfield for a loss of 11 yards.
Down 42-7 at the time, the Wolfpack was frustrated— especially Belton. He walked over to Tigers defensive tackle Tré Williams and hocked a loogie in his direction. He spit directly on an opponent.
Obviously, that is not allowed.
ACC officials saw the entire exchange so multiple penalty flags were thrown onto the field. Not only did they decide to penalize N.C. State for unsportsmanlike conduct, they removed Belton from the contest.
The rare spitting on your opponent ejection called, on NC State’s Belton, as Clemson has just embarrassed them this first half. #FBS #CFB pic.twitter.com/G5FPRjxgbB
— The Whole Delivery (@TWDTV1) September 21, 2024
As the 6-foot-6, 336-pound offensive lineman made his way off of the field, ESPN called down to the sideline for McGrath’s account of what happened. She confidently stated that a Clemson player stomped on Bailey’s head just moments before Belton spit on Williams.
To her credit, McGrath did not say that the ejection was not warranted. Nor did she give Belton a pass for his behavior. Rather, she directly implied that the spit was in retaliation for the helmet stomp. He was defending his quarterback.
But… the helmet stomp never happened!
Replay did show that Bailey was shoved. The Tigers pushed him pretty hard. Nobody stepped on — or even near — his head. McGrath’s partial defense of Anthony Belton was based on entirely untrue circumstances.
Sideline reporters have a hard job and they don’t get as much credit as they deserve. They also get things wrong, just like everybody else.
In this instance, though, Molly McGrath implied poor behavior by Clemson that did not occur.