The College Football Playoff is what everyone wanted, but I gotta say, massive upsets don’t quite have the same feel. In other words, because 12 teams are going to make the new CFP tournament, a single loss doesn’t put your playoff hopes in jeopardy like it once did.
Saying all that to say this to Tennessee Volunteers defensive lineman Omari Thomas: Why, bro? And I don’t mean, “Why are you 6-4, 325 and wearing the jersey No. 21?” I mean why are you shoving Arkansas fans half your size like you’re trying to fight through a double team in the trenches?
Hey @Vol_Football, might want to teach your players that this could be considered assault… pic.twitter.com/GF9iShgolx
— Kristi Abbott (@kabbott725) October 6, 2024
What I’m getting at here is, Tennessee was ranked fourth coming into this game against the Razorbacks. They lost a tough SEC road game 19-14. As long as they take care of business the rest of the season, they’re in the playoffs. So especially considering that as context, what could’ve possibly made Thomas pop off like this? It’s not that serious. There’s no excuse for the behavior in the first place, but when you really think big-picture about it, Thomas’ actions are even dumber.
A senior defensive leader should know better. Really any football player should know better. No matter what any pipsqueak student says to you, ain’t no way you can just dunk somebody to the turf.
We’ll see if Thomas faces any disciplinary action over this from the Vols or the NCAA. Pretty damning that it’s caught on camera. By the way, how impressive was the camerawork by this videographer? We got, like, a Tarantino-esque explosive zoom-in, and right in the frame mere seconds later we saw Thomas pancake the Arkansas couple, who just appeared to want to get through and join the celebration on the field. Nothing really malicious, or so I thought upon closer review. I don’t see any attempt by the kids to talk smack to Thomas. Right? Am I missing something?
It’s tough when you have such an ugly moment and it gets shotgunned all over the Internet. According to at least one local who’s in the know, Thomas’ outburst was out of character for him (surely we’d hope so!):
As someone who’s covered Omari Thomas, this is out of character for him. It’s a bad decision made by a good person.
That being said, there’s no room for this in college sports. Big O should definitely be reprimanded but I don’t think this should define him or his season https://t.co/G2NtC0sA57
— Joseph Bonanno (@jmbonanno13) October 6, 2024
However, I tend to side with this general sentiment about the incident:
Both teams ran hot all night. There were shoves, fists, back talk. And when we let it slide in the game it escalates.
Omari Thomas is a 6’4”, 325 kid. He is real wrong here. He deserves consequences. But the SEC and teams need to prioritize sportsmanship, too. https://t.co/WYkozFCCFj
— Jen Standerfer (@JenStanderfer) October 6, 2024
Thomas’ blow-up was more extreme than the Jermaine Burton incident from a while back. Burton didn’t get suspended.
Video of WR Jermaine Burton allegedly striking female Tennessee fan in head while exiting field Saturday 😳😳pic.twitter.com/SrhaV7zzr2
— Footballism (@FootbaIIism) October 19, 2022
Have a feeling Thomas will sit for at least a half in Tennessee’s next game. Some sort of disciplinary action is fully justified from what I’ve seen here.
