Vander Bites

VANDER BITES – The blow that sent a Boise State football player to the ground and an Oregon running back to the permanent practice squad is sparking even more controversy now that both players have admitted to staging the incident.

“We were hanging out before the game watching ‘Man On The Moon,’ the biography of Andy Kaufman, and we just looked at each other and said ‘let’s do something like that,’” Byron Hout, a Boise State defensive lineman, said.

The result was a fake sucker punch that knocked Hout to his knees in front of thousands of Boise State fans. For added flair, LeGarrette Blount pushed his own players, scuffled with stadium security guards and even advanced towards some of the Boise fans.

“That was pure LeGarrette,” Hout said. “He’s such a showman. Get him in front of an audience and you never know what he’s going to do. He’s just a performance genius. He’s got a tremendous future ahead of him, I feel honored to have worked with him.”

Boise State coach Chris Petersen said he knew “something was up,” and after talking with first-year Oregon coach Chip Kelly decided to take an active role in the prank.

“I pulled (Hout) aside right before it happened and said, ‘This is it, baby, you ready for the big show?’ then BAM!” Petersen said. “Chip and I both agree that the guys pulled off the stunt better than either team pulled off an offensive play.”

Kelly said he missed the show, but saw the reply on the stadium’s replay screen. “I teared up,” he said. “Those are two of the hardest working guys in the business. This is the kind of thing that looks easy at home, but it takes months of preparation and split second timing. It was art.”

The NCAA, which learned of the hoax earlier today, has not decided if it will take action against either team.

“On one hand, you don’t want to condone that kind of thing,” an NCAA spokesman said. “But the reality is it’s great TV. College football has gotten more media attention this past week than we did all last year, even after, uh, that one team beat the, uh, other for the national BCS championship.”