As a Vanderbilt graduate, I’m obviously pleased with yesterday’s win over Boston College in the Music City Bowl. That said, the late-hit penalty on Mark Herzlich could have gone either way, which my buddy Tom, a BC grad, let me know quite clearly in my living room.

    "That is #$%^ing $%^^! What, are they playing women’s rugby?"

I’m unfamiliar with the rules of women’s rugby, but I certainly understand the sentiment. Nobody likes to lose games on bang-bang plays like that. Still, the Vandy kicker had to nail it from 45 yards. And BC had the plenty of time to a winning drive, so it’s not as if that Herzlich play out and out cost them the game. It was simply one play among many, but admittedly a big one, since it was a third down play that allowed Vanderbilt to move into field-goal range.

Here’s what Herlzlich and BC coach Jeff Jagodzinski had to say about the play after the game:

    "I feel like I was right there," Herzlich said. "Either way it wasn’t deliberately late. I tried to make a play."

    "That’s the way they saw it," said Jagodzinski, of the referees.

                                                                                                                   — Associated Press