It's been a quiet and hopeful offseason for the Rockets football team. Coming off an 8-5 record with their eyes set on upsetting Ohio State – a team with problems of their own – it was all roses for UT. Suddenly it's all felonies.

After Damien McIntosh was arrested for felonious assault on his own girlfriend on Monday, DB/OLB Isaiah Ballard was arrested for ... well, also felonious assault. If that makes it any better, Ballard beat up a guy instead of a girl.

But both McIntosh and Ballard have been dismissed from the team by coach Tim Beckman. From a football perspective Ballard is a larger loss, since McIntosh was redshirting while Ballard was third on the team in tackles. And now we know why.

Suddenly the defense looks a little thinner with these two dismissals, but also much less criminal. At least for now. We can't promise what tomorrow will bring, but it might be beneficial for the entire team to watch an instructional tape or puppet show on when not to punch somebody in the face.