College football can be a thrilling sport, especially when you cheer on your team to victory. Football is so exciting because of the athleticism and offensive and defensive strategies used by players. Some players, however, can let their emotions and frustrations take over them. This is what happened on Friday night in El Paso.
UTEP offensive guard Steven Hubbard was thrown to the ground face down during the second quarter of a match between Louisiana Tech, and the University of Texas El Paso. Brevin Randle, a senior Louisiana Tech linebacker, took advantage of the situation to hit Hubbard with a cheap shot. It got worse, however, when Randle turned around and stepped either on Hubbard’s neck or head.
Louisiana tech linebacker Brevin Randle has been suspended indefinitely for this play pic.twitter.com/JW7YrYkZne
— CFBTalkDaily (@CFBTalkDaily) September 30, 2023
It’s especially appalling that no referees paid attention to Randle when he attacked Hubbard. As a result, Randle was not given a penalty or flagged.
Grayson Weir, a BroBible writer, writes: “Officials who were trying to determine which team was in possession of the scrum completely missed the extracurricular activities.” They did not throw any flags. Brevin Randle was not punished, which is wrong.
Weir says, “The first strike was made after the whistle blew and it deserved a penalty for late hitting.” The stomp could and should have been grounds for a player’s ejection.
UTEP’s head coach Dana Dimel revealed that an official admitted to having missed Randle’s violent outburst.
He told reporters that “the referee who I admire came over to me at halftime, and said very gentlemanly that he had missed it.” “That’s just part of the game.” He was an absolute gentleman. “I really appreciated that.”
UTEP alumnus and Green Bay Packers Aaron Jones reacted on X (formerly Twitter) to the hit-and-stomp:
No place for this in football !!! https://t.co/zxJVcftfdi
— Aaron Jones 3️⃣3️⃣ (@Showtyme_33) September 30, 2023
Randle’s actions will be punished. It was initially thought that Randle would escape punishment for his vicious attack against Hubbard. Louisiana Tech suspended him for an indefinite period of time following the game on Friday night.
In a press release, Louisiana Tech Athletic Director Eric Wood said “Coach Cumbie met with Brevin today and informed him of his indefinite suspension as a consequence of the incident last night during the game against UTEP.” In speaking with Brevin Randle, he acknowledged that his actions were wrong and understood the consequences of those actions. “Our University, athletic department, and football program are committed to culture, class, and competitive excellence, and this was not displayed at that moment.”
Is that enough? Should the team release Randle, and rescind Randle’s scholarship? I believe in redemption but I can’t figure out if a suspension, even if it’s indefinite, is enough.
Louisiana Tech beat UTEP 24-10 to improve to a record of 3-3, while UTEP dropped to a 1-5 season. Hubbard was not injured, and I assume he was fine. We can only hope and pray that an incident like that never happens again.
