“With their first pick in the fifth round, the New England Patriots select Andy Isabella, wide receiver, University of Massachusetts.”

If anyone was born to play the slot receiver position in the Patriots’ offense, it’s Andy Isabella.  And, give the kid credit, he had a helluva day yesterday in Sanford Stadium.

The Minutemen’s senior wide receiver, who came to Sanford Stadium leading the nation in receiving yards, left with that mark safely intact. He added 219 yards receiving on 15 receptions and two more touchdowns to his total, which now stand at 1,698 yards and 13 for the season. He’s well over 3,000 receiving yards for his career.

Isabella was so impressive that he even caught the attention of Georgia’s quarterback.

“What a player. I mean, he did a phenomenal job,” the Bulldogs’ Jake Fromm said. “It didn’t matter who we put on him, he was finding a way to get separation and get open. I don’t know if he dropped a ball. I don’t know if anybody else caught a ball. But he did awesome. It seemed like every time they threw it there he was again catching it. Man, great player, really exciting, really fun to watch.”

Unless, of course, you play on Georgia’s defense. Then you’re not as much impressed by Isabella as you are somewhat embarrassed about what he did. Isabella’s 15 catches was the second-most Georgia has allowed in school history and the most ever in Sanford Stadium. His receiving yards were the third-most allowed by the Bulldogs ever.

Before you reach for that razor blade to slit your wrists over another reason to despair over Georgia’s defense, though, a little context first.

But almost all of that production came in garbage time, including both TDs, basically meaningless plays with the score way out of hand. In the first half he had eight catches for 59 yards (7.4 ypc).

— Matt Hinton (@MattRHinton) November 18, 2018

Georgia scored at will yesterday.  Literally.  Smart and Tucker substituted liberally on defense as the third quarter unfolded.  Isabella may play on a bad team, but he’s one of the top wide receivers in the country and he feasted on backups.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled freak out.

Advertisement

Today, in SEC officiating conspiracy theories

They called this an incompletion? It was ruled TD on the field.

This is crazy #OleMiss #Vandy @SEC pic.twitter.com/A7A49YSWND

— Trey Wallace (@TreyWallace_) November 18, 2018

That was ruled a touchdown on the field and overruled in Birmingham upon review.

For the life of me, I can think of only one reason for that:  Ole Miss is banned from the postseason and Vandy still has a shot at bowl eligibility.  Normally I don’t indulge in that kind of thinking, but how was that not a catch?

Anybody see it differently?

Signs it might take a little longer than you think

Tough Tennessee stat reflecting the rebuild — the Volunteers have lost five games by more than 25 points for the first time in a single season.

— David Paschall (@DavidSPaschall) November 18, 2018

The patronizing postseason Phil Fulmer job performance review of Pruitt almost writes itself, doesn’t it?

The 24-minute rule

Kirby’s usual rule is allowing the team to have a day to celebrate a win.  With regard to Massachusetts, it sounds like the team finished the celebration before it even left the locker room after the game.

After second most total yards in program history, Bulldogs turn attention to Georgia Tech. “It means a lot to me because of the last time they were in here and the way we went out,” Elijah Holyfield said. “We’ll be very pumped up for this game.” https://t.co/DcJu6oJo9k

— Marc Weiszer (@marcweiszer) November 18, 2018

You’d better be.  The smug is coming. ($$)

“To Hell with Georgia,” said Jalen Johnson, a senior linebacker.

“I played there one time, and I’m 1-0,” added Brad Stewart, a senior receiver. “It was a good feeling tearing those hedges at the end.”

Time to get your hate on, folks.

Dropping an absolute dime

Justin Fields, ladies and gentlemen, and the art of throwing a perfect bomb.

Justin Fields has a cannon. 😱 pic.twitter.com/4Ic8Lu35cx

— Hotlanta Highlights (@HotlantaHlights) November 18, 2018

The best part of that clip is Riley Ridley’s reaction before the ball even reaches Mecole Hardman.  Sometimes you just have to stop and admire a thing of beauty.

Sco’ and sco’ some mo’.

Say what you will about Mike Leach, but he’s not one to take his foot off the gas pedal.  Last night, in a 69-28 rout of Arizona, his starting quarterback threw his seventh touchdown pass of the game with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter and his team up by 34.

That’s Spurrier-esque.

Fingered

I’m sitting at the game yesterday when news comes over that a running back gave a defender the finger on his way to a touchdown.  That this came during the Harvard-Yale game made the story even better.

Harvard touchdown called back after running back flipped Yale's defense the bird: https://t.co/EPC8Q2Mdyg pic.twitter.com/7qfqhuDQyl

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) November 17, 2018

The back was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct and the touchdown taken off the board.

Harvard-Yale is a game of gentlemen! No celebrating allowed! pic.twitter.com/RDi2cGLuO3

— Barstool Sports (@barstooltweetss) November 17, 2018

Unfortunately, the national media, as is its wont sometimes, overreacted to what actually happened.

In the fourth quarter, with Harvard leading 28-27, the Crimson’s Devin Darrington was heading for touchdown glory at Fenway Park when a replay view made it looked as if he unleashed a Nelson Rockefeller/Johnny Cash/Mr. Met special at a closing Yalie before he crossed the goal line.

The Internet went berserk. HARVARD RB GIVES MIDDLE FINGER TO YALE DEFENDER ON TD, said CBSSports.com. HARVARD LOSES TD AFTER PLAYER FLIPS OFF YALE, offered USA Today. Deadspin was quick with a video. Yours truly thought it was a genuine bird flip and piled on.

But Finger Zapruder-ists wondered if the digit in question was, in fact, an index finger—and if the Harvard runner was merely signaling “Shhh” or “We’re No. 1.”

You know what’s coming next, right?

Now a photographer from the Harvard Crimson, Tim O’Meara, has come forward with what appears to be proof of an index finger.

Great shot, Tim.

I spoke to O’Meara, who said he hadn’t been aware of the controversy surrounding the Finger until he went to dinner later with his parents, who were also at the game. His father commented on the speculation of the middle finger, so O’Meara went back and looked through his photos until he found one that clearly showed Darrington has raised an index finger.

“It was cool to realize for the first time that something I’d seen all over the sports media was not as it seemed,” said O’Meara, a Crimson staffer.

The verdict on the Devin Darrington finger incident @Deadspin (📷: @tromeara) pic.twitter.com/JZfYXmDUG8

— Crimson Sports (@THCSports) November 18, 2018

Sigh.  Maybe next time.  At least I hope they call this the Finger Game.