January 4th, 2006
College Football
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like the BCS system in college football. But (there is always a but isn’t there) this year I have seen some of the best bowl games ever.
Yesterday I watched Ohio State duke it out against a tough Notre Dame team (#9 on Notre Dame is FAST); it was a blast of a game. That game was followed by a more incredible match up where WVU outlasted Georgia thanks to one of the ballsiest calls I have ever seen in a bowl game when Rich Rodriquez called for a fake punt late in the fourth to cap the game.
Tonight, well, tonight, it went up to another level. Penn State and Joe Pa took on Florida State and Bobby Bowden. What a freakin game. Went into triple overtime thanks to MANY missed kicks. Players were giving everything they had to win the game and many suffered injuries in their quest for the victory. In the end it came down to field goals. Bowden and his dreaded curse “Wide Right” when his boy hit the right post. Then, the Nitney Lions freshman kicker came back out on the field and squeaked his effort just inside the right upright for the win. 5.5 hours of incredibly competitive football by two teams that were perfectly matched. What a game!
As much as I like NFL football I can honestly say I have never seen a series of games that comes anywhere close to the three I have watched so far this week. I can only hope the USC -vs- Texas Rose Bowl is half as good.
Comments
I know it borders on blasphemy to say this, but I didn’t see 2 good teams playing in the Orange Bowl. Rather than a ‘battle for the ages’, this was a contest to see who could blow more chances. After watching this game, can anyone say with a straight face that there are only 2 teams in the nation better than Penn State? How in the world does the #3 team draw the #22 team anyway? Most if not all of the 18 teams between #4 and #21 would have won this game. No doubt these are 2 great coaches of all time, but this wasn’t a good showing for either. Just because a game is close doesn’t mean it’s good.
Mark
January 4th, 2006
I saw an excellent game because the two teams were balanced and, to me, it was fun to watch.
The two teams played each other pretty evenly. I’m not saying that a variety of other teams wouldn’t have won the game based on the play last night – I just know that I had a blast watching the game. You could tell how had the guys were playing, and we saw the entire gamut of events.
Special teams touchdown, missed extra point, safety, missed field goal to end the game, triple overtime, more missed field goals including one that hit the post, sudden death for FSU after PS scored their TD in second overtime, FSU responding then that doink in triple overtime, then the PSU freshman kicker squeaking his in. I don’t know how someone couldn’t enjoy watching that game.
PSU defense played well the entire game. Their offense didn’t do as well as one might have expected (especially with that fumble in the red zone) but they were basically playing at FSU so I imagine that had something to do with the parity of the game – plus, it is a big bowl game; you have to imagine the players gave everything they could. Just look at how many players were getting injured in overtime.
I know I didn’t dub it a “game of the ages” but it was a great game to watch for sheer entertainment value. Plus, I’m still savoring in the wins of OSU and WVU (both teams I had hoped would win). I really do hope the USC-Texas game is a great one though.
Bill
January 4th, 2006