‘That was bullsh-t’; Bailey, Thoman ruffle feathers in gaudy quarterfinal win

DALLAS -- If you’re a fan of Oregon State, maybe stay out of Georiga for a while. If business takes you there, definitely don’t wear orange and black. The Beavers stars insist their performance in the Cotton Bowl quarterfinal had nothing to do with their opponent, but Georgia Southern students and fans certainly have their villain for the next decade. 

It’s not just the scoreboard beatdown- the Beavers banjaxed the Eagles 42-6 and even that looks more merciful than it was- it’s the feeling the Sun Belt champs were used as a prop for OSU to make a point. 

“That was bullshit,” Southern head coach Greg Boyle said as he walked off the field in Dallas. “I know why they’re pissed, but we didn’t do nothing to make that happen. Why bring us into it?”

The why, if you hadn’t guessed it already, is the fact All-American superstar tight end Micah Thoman finished as the runner-up for the Heisman Award despite a record-breaking senior year. It was considered a shocking snub and re-ignited the national debate about whether the award was too quarterback-centric. 

What has Boyle and others upset is that Thoman and quarterback JJ Bailey seemingly used the CFP quarterfinal (and the Georgia Southern defense) as a canvas upon which to express their displeasure with the decision. 

Bailey appeared to be the primary driver, and the opening possession made clear the box score would carry a message. The quarterback threw three straight times inside the five yard line, targeting Thoman every time. The senior hauled the third one in, and Bailey trotted off the field holding a one up to the camera. 

The Beaver defense was all over Georgia Southern’s vaunted rushing attack on the ensuing possession, and when Bailey took the Beavers on a seven-play blitzkrieg drive that ended in another Thoman touchdown catch (and Bailey holding up a two to the national audience), any doubt about intent was gone.  

“It had nothing to do with the opponent. Nothing,” Bailey said after the game, an audible edge present for the first time in his four years talking to the media. “It could have been my friends and family over there. It could have been Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Jersey didn’t matter. They were gonna get it. Wrong place, wrong time.”

By halftime, the Eagles certainly wished they were anywhere else. It was 21-6, with Thoman accounting for two touchdowns, and Southern’s fourth-in-the-nation rushing unit looking overmatched in every conceivable way. They managed a field goal in each quarter but with less than 100 total yards and only 23 on the ground, those kicks seemed like miracles unlikely to repeat themselves. All-American defensive lineman Justin Childs (who finished sixth in Lombardi voting) and Linebacker of the Year winner Will Armistead once again had their ferocious unit in full attack mode, picking up four first-half sacks and imbuing each Georgia Southern drive with an ever-darkening aura of hopelessness.

This was the situation as teams headed into the locker room- a fight so visibly one-sided it could have been stopped halfway through and no one would have protested. And though the OSU defense never relented (the Eagles finished with 79 yards rushing and 14 total first downs), it appeared for a while that Beaver coach Mike Ribbick had pulled Bailey’s reins a bit. 

The Beavs scored again in the third, a 13-yard touchdown run for All-American Josh Charbonnet who was on his way to a 136-yard night, but Bailey spread the targets out and stayed away from his tight end in the red zone. 

Then came the fourth quarter. 

Before we continue, let’s put Thoman’s snub into context. The senior is a multi-time All-American and would have been a first-round pick had he gone pro at the end of last season. Instead, like fellow stars Armistead and Childs, he returned for his senior year. The trio is among the best players in program history- if not the outright greatest- and wanted the chance to build a dynasty after winning it all last season. The return also gave Thoman a shot at NCAA records, and his prolific senior season inked his name in history. The counter is still running, but the tight end currently has 119 catches and more than 2,000 yards, along with a record-breaking 30 touchdown grabs. His 30 TDs are the most all-time in a single season and pushed him to 67 career receiving touchdowns- another NCAA record. He’s also less than 200 yards away from the career receiving yard record (5,285) set by Corey Davis in 2016. 

Given that most of this record-breaking damage was done this season, the voters’ decision to award Clemson quarterback Christopher Vizzina the Heisman stunned just about everyone. Vizzina had a fine year, throwing for 4,300 yards and 43 touchdowns against eight picks while rushing for 400-plus and nine scores, but what Thoman did would have been mind-boggling for a receiver, let alone a tight end. 

Maybe his playful campaigning for the award or performative celebrations rubbed voters the wrong way. Maybe it was the T-shirts, or loose pressers, or that Thoman never seemed to take all the pomp and circumstance as seriously as the establishment wanted him to. Whatever it was, voters apparently felt they needed to send a message. 

Whether it was his idea or not, he and Bailey sent one back. 

The Beavers got the ball with nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter and went back to the air, with Bailey taking the offense inside the 20 in four plays. The next snap he hit Thoman on a crossing route for the TE’s third touchdown catch of the game. It was 35-6, and when Armistead recorded a thunderous sack to end the Eagles’ next drive, it figured to be a bleed-the-clock, board-the-bus situation. 

Six plays later, Bailey was holding up a four to the camera and everyone in the arena felt a little uneasy. These Beavers have been a lot of things. They’ve awed, they’ve stunned, they’ve been cheeky fun and stray-dog vicious. They’ve talked trash and given propers, laughed and cried. This was new. 

This was cold. It was relentless and remorseless and bordering on gratuitous. When the defense swallowed up Southern yet again, Ribbick leashed his quarterback and tight end to the sideline; a move that had all the energy of a corner team stopping a fight because they don’t trust their man to stop hitting an unconscious opponent.

After the game, the coach didn’t address Bailey and Thoman’s performance aside from a terse “we’ll talk about it internally,” while admitting he was “displeased” with the fourth-quarter scoring. 

For his part, Thoman was as carefree as ever, saying he didn’t know he would be targeted so much in the endzone but not apologizing for his output. 

“I mean… if you throw me the ball I’m going to try and catch it, right? That’s the whole job description. I wasn’t out there asking for passes, but if they come my way…” he said, smiling and adding, “That’s how you get to being Heisman runner-up. You treat every pass important.” 

When asked directly if he felt like he should have won the award over Vizzina, Thoman paused before answering. 

“I… look, I don’t have an opinion on it. I know a lot of people do. I’ve been hearing a lot of radio segments where people think I should have won. But radio callers don’t vote. My people aren’t allowed in those rooms I guess. What do you think? Show of hands, who thinks I should have won?”

A school official interrupted to cut the session short. 

Bailey, who led the nation in passing yards this season with more than 5,000 but whose interceptions (17) kept him from being a first-team All-American, was unambiguous when asked the same question. 

“I thought I was pretty clear tonight. He should have won, and it shouldn’t have been close. Vizzina is great, but this guy re-wrote tight end history,” he said. “He was better than any receiver out there. That’s one dude being the best at two positions. Vizzina didn’t- I had more yards and more touchdowns, man. You’re telling me the guy with worse numbers than me is better than the guy setting records? Nope. They wanted to say something I guess. But we’re allowed to say something back.”

Asked whether or not he expected punishment from the coaching staff, Bailey said he’d accept whatever Ribbick decides. 

“I know how everybody feels. Whatever comes of it is on me. I just felt like a point needed making. It’s been made,” he said.

And now comes the hard part. 

Waiting on the other side of the Georgia Southern game, amid all the national talk about sportsmanship and team image, is Oregon. For all the things these history-making OSU seniors have accomplished, beating the Ducks has been hard to come by. This class has managed just one rivalry victory in four years, and even that came with an injury asterisk. Their dispiriting loss to the Ducks this season put things on a knife’s edge, and though the Beavers responded by finding a new gear, they were undeniably humbled by what is clearly Oregon’s best team in this four-year run. When the first award watchlists were released in Week 8, the Ducks had the top five slots in the race for best defensive back, the top two Lombardi candidates, the top two slots for best linebacker, and three of the four Defensive Player of the Year spots (Childs was the fourth). They finished 1-2 at defensive back, second at linebacker (behind Armistead), second in the Lombardi race, and 2-3 for DPOY. Quarterback Josh Winters won the Unitas Golden Arm Award. 

To make history, the Beavers must overcome it by finally beating a full-strength Oregon-and the most talented Oregon they’ve ever faced. If that wasn’t enough, they’ll have to do it wearing a big bullseye and a glaring national spotlight. Bailey and company showed a new side in the Cotton Bowl. If they want their dynasty, they’ll have to show another new one to get past their rivals.