Oregon defensive coordinator apologizes for comments after Washington State game
Oregon defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti apologized Sunday evening for comments he made following the Ducks' win Saturday night over Washington State after the Cougars threw the ball 89 times.
“The bottom line is, I'm sorry,” Aliotti said in a statement. “I'm embarrassed that I got caught up in the moment after the game. There's no excuse, but sometimes right after the game the adrenaline is still flowing and I made a huge, human error in judgment. I wish I could take it back, and I promise it won't happen again.
“I'd like to apologize to Mike Leach and (Washington State AD) Bill Moos, Washington State and its fans, and Oregon and our fans.”
Aliotti was ticked that Washington State had continued to throw the ball while Oregon had a monstrous lead. Cougar QB Connor Halliday set the FBS record for attempts with those 89 throws, tied the record for completions with 58 and had 557 yards and four touchdowns, the last of which came with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter and made the final score 62-38.
After the game, Aliotti said that “That’s total (B.S.) that he threw the ball at the end of the game like he did," referencing Washington State coach Mike Leach.
“And you can print that and you can send it to him, and he can comment, too. I think it’s low class and it’s (B.S.) to throw the ball when the game is completely over against our kids that are basically our scout team.
“Make sure he knows that. Because I don’t really care.”
However, ultimately, Aliotti did care, whether or not it was after self-reflection and/or a discussion with Oregon officials. Though we shouldn't have cared about it in the first place -- teams have every right to continue to throw the ball when they're getting blown out.
- - - - - - -
is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
Follow @NickBromberg
