The most important rule in college football is to always keep your head on a swivel. A photographer by the name of Ethan Bacon forgot that rule on Saturday afternoon in Madison, Wisconsin and paid a dear, dear price.
It all went down during the fourth quarter of Wisconsin’s home game against Rutgers.
Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was the highlight of the Scarlet Knights’ offensive attack, which says a lot about how things went for the visitors. He completed just 16 of his 35 pass attempts for 181 yards and a touchdown with one interception, and led the team in rushing with nine carries for 43 yards.
Rutgers totaled 275 yards in a 24-13 loss while converting just two of 12 third down tries and punting eight times. Not ideal.
The Scarlet Knights did not score in the first half and went down 17-0 at the break. Wimsatt threw a pick-six in the closing moments.
As a result of the deficit, they had to be aggressive if they wanted to mount a comeback late in the second half. Rutgers attempted to go for it on two separate fourth downs.
Their second attempt came with 5:46 left in the game. The Scarlet Knights had the ball at the opposing 11-yard-line on 4th-and-2.
Rather than trying to run the ball up the gut against a strong Badgers defensive front, Wimsatt was tasked with throwing the ball for a first down. The attempt was unsuccessful.
Rutgers nailed the college football photographer directly in the nuts.
Wimsatt took the snap and was flushed out of his pocket to his left. With no one open, he tried to drop a dime to the corner of the end zone for six.
Hopefully that is what he was doing.
Whether it was his plan or not, Wimsatt threw the ball away. The pass fell incomplete on the sideline and bounced directly in front of the photographer — who never saw it coming.
Bacon took the ball directly where the sun doesn’t shine and crumbled to the turf.
Another angle of the unfortunate bounce shows that it was a direct shot. The laces got him right in the groin.
Bacon also shared a POV video of the exact moment in which his life changed forever.
Unfortunately for Rutgers and for Bacon, it was one of Wimsatt’s most accurate passes of the day. Ouch!