The Loop
Furman quarterback Hamp Sisson is the world's greatest teammate and our college football star of the week
Back in the not-so-distant past, before social media and before cameras were rolling at all times, we'd probably miss out on whatever happened in the Furman vs. Chattanooga game on Saturday. You're probably thinking "yeah...and?" Who the hell cares what happens between the Paladins and the Mocs, right? Oh, how wrong can you be?
The non-stop coverage of everything 24/7, while sometimes bad, is also very good, because it gives us viral moments that we used to miss out on. Viral moments like this play from the aforementioned Furman-Chattanooga tilt, a matchup of Southern Conference Titans. Late in the fourth quarter, with the game already in hand, Furman QB No. 9, who is our college football star of the week, handed it off to his running back, who was stuffed at the line of scrimmage. But Furman QB No. 9 wouldn't allow him to be knocked backwards, so he helped push him forward and eventually into the clear for a Paladin tack-on TD. One of the great effort plays you'll ever witness:
Why am I referring to him as Furman QB No. 9 like the NCAA video games used to in order to avoid him profiting off his name, image and likeness? Because a very Twitter thing happened on Saturday when this video went viral. Everyone made their "get you a QB like No. 9" and "Find you a man that'll have your back like No. 9" jokes and not a single person bothered to look up his actual name. As you can see, even the ESPN College Football Twitter account could care less about the kid's name!
Well, I'm here to inform you that was a HUGE mistake. I looked up QB No. 9's name and dear god it's one of the greatest names my eyes have ever seen:
HAMP. SISSON. What a name, what a teammate. I feel like he was robbed of some virality (viral-ness?) by everyone calling him "No. 9." Had Hamp Sisson started making the rounds this video would have had a million views, I'm sure of it. Incredible push by the Hamp-ster, something you usually only see from offensive linemen. But the redshirt freshman was not afraid to get his hands dirty, and he really didn't need to. Furman was already up 28-20 with 15 seconds to go and could have easily sat on it, but Sisson plays to the final freaking whistle. Love this kid, love his name, love this sport. Hamp Sisson forever.
Honorable Mentions
Kirby Smart
As a closet Georgia fan, I could find space to mention Kirby in our honorable mentions every week, but I am an unbiased journalist. However, Kirby was in rare form this week during UGA's huge win over the rival Florida Gators, and he deserves some serious shine. Here was Smart on the sideline after running back Brian Herrien made one of the catches of the year for a first down:
And here's Kirby on the dagger touchdown scored by Lawrence Cager (focus on the little ball of energy hopping on the sideline at the top left of your screen):
And finally, here was Kirby making an appearance on defensive lineman Tyler Clark's Snapchat story during the locker room celebration:
Few other coaches would not only willingly be on a player's Snapchat video, but play it up and stick their tongue out for the camera. Gotta love Kirby. Unless you're a Florida fan LOL.
Drew Brees
Why is NFL quarterback Drew Brees making an appearance in a college football post? Uhhh, did you see that speech he gave to the Purdue football team Saturday?
Man, realllllllly wish I saw this before kickoff, because I would have bet every dollar I have on the Boilermakers. They were never losing to Nebraska after this.
Derrick Brown
Watch the Auburn senior defensive lineman sub in late from the sideline at the bottom of your screen:
Amazing. Yes, this was legal. All Brown had to do was get on the field of play before the ball was snapped, and he did just that, producing an all-time great Rich Rodriguez screenshot:
I suspect this will yield some great college football memes in the near future.
Whoever was behind this camera
We ragged on the main camera man for the Dartmouth-Harvard game, and for good reason. The guy almost missed the entire freaking play. Fortunately, someone on the sideline was rolling tape and had a great angle for the Hail Mary that may win Dartmouth the Ivy League:
Well done. The Big Green face Princeton next week in a battle of Ivy League undefeateds. And you thought Alabama-LSU was the only big game this Saturday.