Hit on UW's Locker ruled "inadvertent," says Pac-10

The Pac-10 Conference today announced that it believes the helmet-to-helmet hit on Washington's Jake Locker Saturday night was "inadvertent'' and that no additional penalties will be meted out as a result of that play.

However, it announced that the four players ­­-- one from Washington, three from Oregon State — who were ejected in the game will each be forced to sit out the first half of games this weekend and that the instant replay crew will be reprimanded for not stopping the game to review a fumble by Oregon State's Yvenson Bernard in the fourth quarter.

"We believe the helmet-to-helmet contact on the hit on Locker was inadvertent,'' said Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen in the statement. "College football is played at a very high speed, and hard collisions such as this one result. Thankfully, Locker apparently did not suffer a serious injury. The sight of him walking back into Reser Stadium during the fourth quarter was most welcome. Helmet-to-helmet contact is a national point of emphasis, and we will continue to officiate accordingly.''

Locker was injured on a hard hit by Oregon State's Al Afalava with 6:18 to play in the second quarter. He was taken off by ambulance to a hospital but returned in the fourth quarter with his neck in a brace. He has been diagnosed with a stinger and a strain of the trapezius muscle. It is uncertain if he will play in this week's 12:30 p.m. game against Cal. He was listed as a co-starter with Carl Bonnell on the depth chart released today.

Afalava said after the game he did not intend to hurt Locker and Oregon State coach Mike Riley defended the play saying that he didn't know how else Afalava could have made the tackle. Locker was scrambling to pick up a third down and cut inside from the UW sideline when he collided with Afalava.

UW coach Tyrone Willingham said he didn't think the hit was intentional but that it should have been penalized as helmet-to-helmet contact.

The four players who were ejected included Husky starting guard Ryan Tolar, who will be forced to sit out the first half of the Cal game. The three Beavers who were ejected were cornerbacks Brandon Hughes and Bryan Payton and safety James Dockery. They will all be forced to sit out the first half of OSU's game Saturday at Washington State.

The statement said the four will be forced to sit out the first half because they were ejected during the second half Saturday.

"We regret that there was flagrant misconduct on the part of some players which led to four ejections from the game, that there was an injury to Washington quarterback Jake Locker which increased the emotions of the players and that the instant replay crew failed to stop the game to review the play at the goal line with just under three minutes to play,'' Hansen's statement continued. "On the play, it was ruled Oregon State's Yvenson Bernard fumbled. However, it appeared his knee had touched the ground before he lost the ball.''

Bernard lost the ball after he hit the ground at the 1-yard line with 2:41 remaining and OSU ahead 29-23. UW's Roy Lewis picked up the ball and returned it to the UW 38, and the Huskies moved to the OSU 29 before the drive stalled.

"We do believe the instant replay officials did not perform properly on the Bernard fumble play,'' Hanson stated. "There was human error in that while reviewing the available replays the crew failed to notify the game officials to stop play before the ball was snapped for the next play. It was not the fault of the equipment. The game should have been stopped and the play reviewed. The members of the IR crew have been reprimanded.''

The statement also said that the conference reviewed a second-quarter play in which Bernard lost his helmet in a scrum

"That occurred in a pile of players when the ball came loose and a struggle ensured for possession. It is impossible to see more than players grabbing at the ball,'' Hansen said.

Hansen said further that "We found that the officiating crew made earnest attempts to control the conduct of the players. Eight personal fouls were called and four players ejected during the game. We did not find any act which was not addressed by the officials which warranted additional action by the conference

"This was not a game representative of the best of Pac-10 football, as evidenced by the fact there have been no ejections in a Pac-10 game previously this year. We know that feeling is shared by the administrators and coaches at both institutions, and all involved will work to see such conduct does not happen in the future.''