College Football 2009: Miami ropes in Oklahoma

I spent most of the day working on an essay.  Hopefully, in the not too distant future, I shall be able to write more about it.  I didn’t watch LSU beat UGA (televised on CBS) or Notre Dame scoot over Washington (televised on NBC), so I decided not to miss the Oklahoma Sooners and the Miami Hurricanes dunk French fries into Frosties on Saturday Night Football on ABC (damn you Wendy’s commercial!  I really want to consume French fries with milkshake dressing).  Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musberger provided commentary.

The first quarterbegan with Sooners defensive back Dominique Franks intercepting Hurricanes quarterback Jacory Harris.  Sooners QB Sam Bradford did not play tonight.  Landry Jones, the substitute, threw a TD pass to wide receiver Cameron Kenney while the commentators were talking about Bradford’s condition.    Oklahoma 7 and Miami 0.  The Hurricanes didn’t make much offensive magic on their next possession–Jacory Harris threw another interception, this time to Sooners defensive back Brian Jackson.

The second quarter started with the Sooners attempting to fake a field goal.  A real field goal was made shortly thereafter by kicker Jimmy Stevens.  The Hurricanes’ offense got their act together quickly, though, and put a ball in the end zone (thanks to tight end Jimmy Graham).  Oklahoma 10 and Miami 7.  Slow, slow, quick, quick, slower into the end of the first half.

The third quarter started off with the Hurricanes causing and recovering a fumbled Sooners ball.  On the next play, tight end Dedrick Epps made a touchdown.  The Sooners’ offense sunk into lethargy as the Hurricanes increased their score in the second half of the third quarter with a TD catch by wide receiver Travis Benjamin.  Miami 21 and Oklahoma 17.  The Sooners managed to tighten the score gap near the bottom of the quarter when running back DeMarco Murray crossed the goal line.

How soon is now?  Try the bottom of the fourth quarter when the Sooners scored with a field goal.  Miami 21 and Oklahoma 20.  Final score.  Don’t you wish your paramour were resilient like Miami?

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  Sooners running back Chris Brown ran forty-eight yards to the Oklahoma forty-nine yard line in the bottom of the first quarter.  During the actual play, the camera filmed Brown from a slight high-angle, medium long shot (his body pretty much filled the screen).  An instant replay from a different point-of-view followed.  Rather than the slight high-angle, medium long shot, the replay was from an extreme high-angle shot (aerial view).  If you thought Brown was moving fast before, that replay had him juxtaposed with the hash marks by the sidelines.  He was zipping down that field.

2.  There’s a Sooners linebacker named Ryan Reynolds.

3.  After Jacory Harris threw his second TD pass of the game, the camera cut to a profile close-up of him on the sidelines (without helmet), and Brent Musberger said, “…he is a/one coooool cat.”

4.  Every time the commentators say, “the ‘Canes,” I keep thinking of Veronica Mars and Orson Welles.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

College Football 2009: Virginia Tech duke nukems Miami

Wading in the water, wading in the water, it rained in Blacksburg as 66,000 watched Virginia Tech’s Hokies hosted Miami’s Hurricanes this afternoon.  Broadcast on ABC, the first quarter began with Hokies tailback Ryan Williams leaped into the end zone for a touchdown.  Virginia Tech 7 and Miami 0 .  SWEET PRISTINE CANDY! Hokies quarterback Tyrod Taylor made an exquisite forty-eight yard throw to wide receiver Jarrett Boykin, who ran twenty or so yard into the end zone completely without threat of a tackle.  Virginia Tech 14 and Miami 0.

Hokies punter Brent Bowden couldn’t get a firm hold on the ball as he was about to punt the ball away in the top of the the second quarter.  The ball fell to the ground, one Hokies player and one Hurricanes player dove for the ball.  Their contact with the field revealed that the grass was very slushy.  Hokies kicker Matt Waldron missed a twenty-five yard field goal with about five minutes left to play.  Oh but what a play that followed.  Hurricanes’ kicker Matt Bosher attempted to punt the ball, which was blocked (thanks to cornerback Jacob Sykes), enabling Hokies Matt Reidy to take the ball into the end zone.  Virginia Tech 21 and Miami 0.

The third quarter saw a much better offensive attack by the Hurricanes.  There was a TD, courtesy of running Javarris James.  Later on, nearing the four minute mark, there was a field goal.  Virginia Tech 24 and Miami 7.  The fourth quarter saw a nicely executed interception by Hokies cornerback Rashad Carmichael.  A few plays later, Ryan Williams made another TD.  Virginia Tech 31 and Miami 7.  Final score.

Observations & Miscellania:

1.  It was raining quite heavily from the start of the game.  Would/has a football coach arrange for his players to practice in a simulated rain game so that they would know how to adjust their balance, grip, and footing in times of wet turf and wet ball?

2.  The Hurricanes’ white jerseys juxtaposed against their green pants made them look like Gatorade sports bottles.  In comparison, the Hokies reminded me of beets.

3.  The TV signal was still patchy.

4.  The commentators, Matt Millen and Sean McDonough, noted in the bottom of the first quarter that Hokies offensive guard Sergio Render enjoys hunting and fishing.

5.  Before one of the commercial breaks in the top of the second quarter, there was a short clip of the Hurricanes in a game from decades past.  The the jerseys were white and the pants were orange  (or was it the other way around).

6.  The stands were filled with a near ROY G. BIV of rain ponchos.

7.  Tyrod Taylor has surpassed Michael Vick’s record of being one Virginia Tech’s all-time rushers?  Was that what the commentators said?

8.  The rain fell harder in the second half of the game.  Sheets of rain.  I hope those players’ feet stayed dry.  The fastest way to get sick is from wearing wet socks.

9.  Miami head coach Randy Shannon has lived through nearly every came-from-the-hood narrative trope cinema and literature have “standardized.”

10.  Did I really see footage of Tyrod Taylor doing a backflip during practice?

11.  Did you know about the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets?

12.  Wow, those Hokies fans turned the field into a mosh pit. Nice.

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

 

College Football: the Yellow Jackets resin-ate the Hurricanes

…Because resin, like amber, is pretty and sweet but sticky. You touch it, you get stuck in it.

I “watched” Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets host a puddin’ flinging bash against the University of Miami Hurricanes via ESPN’s Gamecast function. I had planned on seeing it at a restaurant but Lady Luck had other ideas. There was no televised aesthetic for me tonight. I suppose what I experienced could be called the “ticker tape/news ticker aesthetic.”

The Yellow Jackets packed the first half with punch with 24 points to the Hurricanes’ 3. GaTech’s numbers came from a field goal in the first quarter and three touchdowns (in the second quarter), courtesy of defensive end Michael Johnson (who intercepted Miami quarterback Robert Marve) and running back Jonathan Dwyer (who TD’d twice). The Yellow Jackets boosted their score with a field goal in the top of the third quarter. The Hurricanes put their first TD on the board not long afterwards (Marve threw to tight end Dedrick Epps). The Yellow Jackets replied with a touchdown, a one yard rush by quarterback Josh Nesbitt. On their next possession, they did it again in the bottom of the third quarter with running back Lucas Cox’s thirty-two yards of endzone-seeking. GaTech 41 and Miami 10.

The fourth quarter took off with Miami recovering a fumbled ball that GaTech quarterback Jaybo Shaw couldn’t quite sandwich. That turnover led to a touchdown for the Hurricanes; wide receiver Leonard Hankerson caught Jacory Harris’s thirteen-yard pass. A two-point conversion was no good. Yellow Jackets 41 and Hurricanes 16 in the top of the fourth. Miami rose up another notch with a TD by wide receiver Kayne Farquharson in the bottom of the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes’ first half was probably an experience that they would like to forget. Although they brought out a stronger second impression, their gusto ultimately could not overcome that of the Yellow Jackets. 41 to 23. Final score.

Observations & Miscellania:

1. Robert Marve quarterbacked in the first quarter and some of the second quarter. Jacory Harris took over in the top of the second after Marve was intercepted. Marve resumed QB work just after the middle point of the second quarter. He also started in the third. Jacory Harris was back in the fourth.

2. There are times when I watch football games (college and pro) on the tellyvision and the pacing of the game-play seem slow. The news ticker approach lacks the audiovisual component of a televised game, but time ostensibly passes by faster. I suppose it’s because there aren’t any commercials to watch or mute. My eyes are also fixed on the lower left part of the internet window. While it’s true that my love of football is predominantly informed by the televised game, my enthusiasm does not diminish just because I cannot see or hear the game-play. Whenever GaTech got into the red zone, I’d shot the usual “come on! get a touchdown!” I think the main difference in viewing experience is the processing of suspense. The game information is updated in real time but cannot be posted until the play has already happened. So the “live” casting is, from a certain angle, watching the past.

3. For a group of GaTech seniors, today’s victory will go down in their personal histories. Four wins in a row against Miami?

Get game summary, stats, and play-by-play here.

Check out this article for some factoids such as what Thursday Night football means for the Yellow Jackets.

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I saw some game footage on local news stations.  Lucas Cox and Jonathan Dwyer–wowness.  Apparently T.I. was at the game cheering on the Yellow Jackets.