The Pac-12 suspended Washington State defensive back Deone Bucannon for one half of a game Tuesday because of a hit he made on an Eastern Washington receiver.
Bucannon will miss the first half of the Cougars' game against UNLV, the conference announced. The conference commissioner, Larry Scott, said he reviewed video of the game and decided Bucannon's hit was severe enough to warrant some measure of discipline.
The hit in question was on EWU senior Greg Herd. The pass to Herd was slightly overthrown. Bucannon showed up late as the ball flew beyond Herd's outstretched hands. Herd took three steps before Bucannon hit him high at shoulder height, colliding with his helmet at the same time.
Officials on the field threw their flags and called a penalty, but Scott said more action needed to be taken as part of the conference's crackdown on unnecessary roughness.
"In order to appropriately protect our student-athletes, it is imperative that we monitor and when needed, act in situations where a blow to the head of a defenseless player was flagrant and/or unwarranted, especially in situations where the hit occurred well after the play was over," said Scott in a news release.
