San José State’s football team started Saturday’s game against Fresno State with what might be one of the most mindless penalties ever committed.
One of the quirks of college football when compared to the NFL is that teammates are allowed to wear the same uniform number. They are not, however, allowed to be on the field at the same time while wearing the same number. Normally, this is not an issue, as if an offensive player is wearing a number, his teammate with the same number will inevitably play on defense. But on special teams, offensive and defensive players mix, creating the potential issue.
The two players are permitted to share the field, as long as one of them puts another jersey on and reports as that new number, similar to what an offensive lineman might do when lining up as an eligible receiver. Occasionally, this step will be forgotten, leading to a penalty. It’s a bad enough penalty on a regular special teams play. But on the opening kickoff, when the team has ample time to double-check everything, it’s much worse. And that’s the boat that San José State found itself in on Saturday night.
Devin Bates received the opening kickoff for the Spartans. Bates called for a fair catch standing on his own six-yard line. It should have been a completely uneventful touchback. But fellow No. 23 Justin Stearns was also on the field for the kickoff. With that, the Spartans were penalized five yards for illegal equipment.
San José State with the rare illegal equipment penalty, as the Spartans had two No. 23s on the field — for the opening kickoff. pic.twitter.com/5BBqEuNwD2
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) November 12, 2023
The fact that this was on a kickoff that the Spartans were not only receiving but took a fair catch on makes this even worse. It’s not as though San José State needed its best blocking team out there. Of course, we understand that the Spartans didn’t know that Fresno State’s David Lynch would kick the ball deep.
But the majority of kickoffs either result in fair catches or at least eligible to. So, it was a pretty safe bet.
[Photo Credit: CBS Sports Network]
