I wrote Thursday night in the LeGarrette Blount aftermath about how Oregon coach Chip Kelly, AD Mike Belotti and the Pac-10 were on the clock with how the handled any disciplinary action regarding the Ducks RB.  In case you somehow missed it, the Oregon senior punched Boise State’s Byron Hout, then a teammate, before he went after fans and had to be physically removed by Oregon assistant Scott Frost and several stadium personnel – all captured by ESPN.

On Friday, Oregon announced they would suspend Blount for the remainder of the season, including any bowl game.  As we’ve talked with several people across the country, the reaction has been mixed, ranging from complete agreement to total opposition.

As for the year-long suspension, here’s three reasons why Oregon made their decision on LeGarrette Blount.

#1. It was B-A-D.  No matter how you view it, whether Hout taunted him (he did), Blount was caught up in the moment (I’m sure he was) or the Oregon RB was frustrated over his performance (he should have been), you can’t deny it was a horrible scene.  Certainly, the large TV audience didn’t help as ESPN promoted this extensively as the flagship college football game of opening night…evidenced by the quick reaction to the fight on Twitter.  In the end, this was much more reminiscent of something you’d see in WWE instead of College Football.

#2. Three rookies “made the decision”.  Chip Kelly is in his first year as head coach of the Oregon Ducks.  Mike Belotti is in his first year as Athletic Director of the University of Oregon.  Larry Scott is in his first football season as Pac-10 commissioner.  Ultimately, each of them knew their reaction on this would be widely criticized and, unfortunately for Blount, none of them had the level of political clout to survive a negative reaction.  Do you think the other two rookies left this decision solely up to Kelly as Belotti and the Pac-10 have claimed?  No way.

Lastly, had this happened at Florida State (Bobby Bowden), Alabama (Nick Saban), USC (Pete Carroll) or Ohio State (Jim Tressel), do you think Blount would have been suspended for the remainder of the season?  Not a chance.  The reason?  All of those coaches have significantly more political clout than Kelly, who is in his first season.

#3 The Roger Goodell factor.  The NFL head boss has been cracking down big time on player behavior with the league’s personal conduct policy.  Although initially many people – especially NFL players – didn’t believe this would last, Goodell has commanded the respect of the entire league.  This is clear in the way Goodell has handled some high profile situations, including Eagles QB Mike Vick, Browns WR Donte Stallworth and former NFL CB Adam “Pacman” Jones, who is out of the league largely because of the NFL’s hard line stance.  Unfortunately for Blount, Goodell’s stance is gaining support (and admiration) from other leagues as well as NCAA conference commissioners, such as the Pac-10′s Larry Scott.

What do you think?  Was Blount’s year-long suspension justified or did Oregon and the Pac-10 overreact?