Oklahoma DB Brendan Radley-Hiles commits extremely dumb targeting penalty, gets ejected from Peach Bowl
Oklahoma defensive back Brendan Radley-Hiles got himself ejected from the Peach Bowl against LSU after he inexplicably decided to lay out LSU RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
With the Tigers facing a third-and-10, QB Joe Burrow scrambled to his right to look for some open space at the same time Edwards-Helaire was crossing the field in the same direction. Instead of recognizing that Burrow was headed to the sideline and a possible first down, Radley-Hiles went for a huge hit on Edwards-Helaire.
The hit flattened Edwards-Helaire ... and let Burrow get the first down.
Brendan Radley-Hiles was more concerned with laying out Clyde Edwards-Helaire than making the tackle on Joe Burrow pic.twitter.com/4mZYm8hGav
— Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) December 28, 2019
It also got reviewed after no penalty flag was thrown on the field. And after a short replay deliberation, Radley-Hiles was penalized for targeting and tossed from the game.
Had Radley-Hiles been more concerned with Burrow than he was with making a big hit, there’s an incredibly strong chance Burrow doesn’t get the first down and LSU has to punt. Instead, Burrow moved the chains, LSU got an extra 15 yards because of the penalty and then Burrow hit Justin Jefferson for a 42-yard touchdown pass three plays later to give the Tigers a 28-7 lead.
It was an extremely, extremely dumb penalty.
Radley-Hiles’ ejection also hurts an already-decimated Oklahoma defense. The Sooners entered the game without sack leader Ronnie Perkins because of a suspension and second-leading tackler Delarrin Turner-Yell because of an injury. And linebacker Kenneth Murray, the team’s leading tackler, injured his hamstring in the first half and was trying to play through the pain.
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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.
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