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closeATLANTA — Just when it looked like this story had finally died, it sprouted a new pair of legs Tuesday.
“Chopgate” as some have so aptly called it, began Sunday evening when the Virginian-Pilot ran a report on its Web site about a Virginia Tech player who felt he was illegally blocked by Georgia Tech offensive linemen and A-backs when the two teams met two weeks ago.
Safety Kam Chancellor — who Georgia Tech fans remember for his preseason comments about having figured out the Yellow Jackets’ spread option offense based on “blocking schemes” — told the Pilot’s beat reporter: “Last year, they had a dude coming to block me, but he’d come straight up the field and try to catch me at an angle. This year, they had everybody arching out and trying to come down on me. There were a lot of illegal chops coming at me, some of everything. There’s nothing we can do about it.
“(The game) wasn’t that frustrating until they started doing a lot of illegal chopping, and I’m telling the referee what he’s doing and he’s not calling nothing. That’s when it got frustrating to me.”
The senior’s comments came the first day players were available after Virginia Tech’s bye week and two weeks after the Yellow Jackets’ 28-23 victory in that Oct. 17 showdown. The homecoming victory vaulted them high into the opening BCS standings and helped state their case for a berth in December’s ACC championship game.
On Monday, after being asked about Chancellor’s comments — as well as other similar statements made by an assistant coach — Hokies head coach Frank Beamer confirmed that Virginia Tech had submitted tapes to ACC league offices to review 11 plays for suspected illegal blocking. The conference later said four came back as likely scenarios in which Georgia Tech should have been penalized.
Beamer on Monday went on to criticize the low-blocking schemes for being potentially injurious to his players.
“When it’s dangerous plays, we need to get that out of college football,” Beamer said, according to the Virginian-Pilot. “That’s the ones that worry you; plays that could hurt a player.”
He also went on to point out a particular play — quarterback Josh Nesbitt’s 39-yard touchdown run at the end of the game — as one where Chancellor was chopped. He recanted that Tuesday, however, saying that he had confused the play with another in the third quarter.
Video replays showed Chancellor getting stood up by a lineman as he ran to cut off Nesbitt on the fourth-quarter play. On the other, an A-back was seen blocking at his feet.
Monday evening, Georgia Tech head coach Paul Johnson reportedly called the accusations a joke.
On Tuesday morning, his tone was more noticeably muted.
“I don’t pay any attention to what players say,” Johnson said during his weekly news conference. “That game was two weeks ago and over with. He’s got his opinion, he can say what he wants.”
Addressing the issue at the start of his own news conference Tuesday, Beamer attacked it head on and claimed that it was resolved and in the past. He still has his concerns, however, about the blocking.
“That’s the only reason this is coming around, is I want to do what I think is right for the game. And this is what’s right for the game,” Beamer said. “It’s not sour grapes. It’s not that Georgia Tech beat us. It’s not that. It’s just some situations came up that I think put guys in dangerous situations. So that’s all of that.
“When you’ve got a guy coming out of the backfield, coming back around, blocking toward the line of scrimmage, the rule’s already there. That just needs to be called because it’s a dangerous play. And generally speaking, let me say this: I’m all for chopping, cutting. I think that’s part of football. If I can see you and you’re cutting me, there’s no problem with that. I think the problem comes when I can’t see you and you’re cutting me. That’s where the problem is.”
TAYLOR DONE, BURNETT TO RETURN
Johnson said Monday that safety Cooper Taylor will not finish out the season.
The 6-foot-4 defensive back with 4.2-40-yard dash speed was sidelined in September with a rare heart condition known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. It is a syndrome that affects the heart’s rhythms.
The sophomore underwent surgery the week after he began feeling discomfort during Georgia Tech’s game against Miami. After trying to make a comeback nearly a month ago, the training staff decided he would be better served sitting out the rest of the year. The team is currently exploring options of gaining a medical redshirt.
Johnson also said that Macon native and linebacker Julian Burnett should return to the depth chart this weekend after a knee injury suffered during the Virginia Tech game.
QUICK HITS
Of course, Saturday is Halloween, and children who come to the game instead of going door-to-door will be allowed to go trick-or-treating through the Vandyville tailgate prior to kickoff at Vanderbilt Stadium. Commodores student-athletes will be among those distributing candy. … Vanderbilt head coach Bobby Johnson is tied for fourth on Vanderbilt’s all-time wins list with 29 career wins. He has coached there since 2002. Dan McGugin, who coached the Commodores from 1904-17 and 1919-34 is first with 197.
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