I was there and it was right in front of me. The lineman stood up. The facemask would never have happened. There is no doubt the Trojans would have gone for it on 4th. Your salient point that it was a game for the ages is dead on. I remember the Sports Illustrated article on the game many USC players said that after Tiger stadium playing ND in South Bend was childs' play.
That was the game my dad threw a shoe through the TV. Childish, sure, but he could of been the cat that invented the TV brick. Mom was pissed at him for a good while, coulda been a month which, was pretty cool. I was 14 and fucking up like channel 5. I needed that month off the hook. Don't EVEN want to get into thanking the condems for that month of solice, but I do thank dad...or his shoe, just the same. Think I'll write that in next years fathers day card.
A lineman standing up doesn't mean the facemask wouldn't have happened. Perhaps it wouldn't have been the penalty enforced but it didn't dictate the facemask. The QB had contact with 2 players and it was the second who grabbed it. Yes. So we don't know what would have happened. I wish I could say I had memory of it. I've talked to players who were there and they have said it was the loudest place they ever played.
Clearly the wicked Trojans put stick-um on their face masks. Perhaps a violation that requires slow-motion to even see would be considered incidental under today's NCAA rules and no penalty, the old 5-yard incidental facemark penalty is gone. In the NFL, the grasping and pulling/twisting must be intentional to be penalized. We should replay the game!
Problem for you is if the illegal motion is called the play is dead and would have been stopped before the face mask. USC would have had 3rd and 15. Of course no one can change it or predict what would happen but that was a critical no call. The Trojans with 2 Heisman winning running backs, all Americas all over and outweighing LSU by 30-40 pounds per man were played off their feet. It is a shame that a couple of bad calls (including a phantom offensive PI against LSU when they were driving on the Trojan 5 yard line) were so great an influence on the outcome. IMO it was one of the greatest games I've seen and I still feel like a winner.
