USC AD Pat Haden Leaves Press Box to Complain to Officials at USC-Stanford Game

The September 6th USC at Stanford football game was a closely fought contest dominated by the two defenses and by and by an awful lot of Stanford mistakes. USC took the lead on a 53 yard field goal by Andre Heidari with 2:30 left, and then forced a fumble to seal the victory.

The game featured a bizarre moment in the third quarter. USC linebacker Hayes Pullard  was thrown out of the game for an illegal hit. Soon afterwards, USC athletic director Pat Haden ran down on the field and confronted the officials. 

Whether the confrontation was about the ejection or perhaps about the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that Southern Cal coach Steve Sarkisian had received shortly before that (for standing too close to the field, of all things), it was out of line. We have never seen such a thing before, because it simply doesn’t happen. Haden serves on the College Football Playoff Committee. These are the people who will pick the teams for the new playoff system, and there are already calls in the media and social media for Haden to step aside or be removed from the committee.

Here’s some highlights (and lowlights) from the game: