One of the joys of being sick on the best day of the 2010 college football season is that you don’t miss finishes like the one from Reno, Nevada. After sleeping through the first half I managed to suffer through a thrilling Nevada victory over Boise State. Watching a national media darling go down hours after our beloved Tigers took care of another was a nice night cap.
Lets face it, Boise was starting to get on everyone’s nerves. I like them as a team to attack the BCS system currently in place but week in and week out they don’t play anyone. Add to the lack of field cred the Internet chatter coming out of Idaho directed at Auburn in the past several weeks and Boise becomes a nuisance. Good riddance pretend contenders.
And this just in… the games are 60 minutes.
Kirk Herbstreit struggled for words last night (I had no idea he and Chris Fowler were in Tuscaloosa – they probably shared a twinkie breakfast with Saban) in the post-game wrap up. Herbstreit hung his hat on Bama’s “missed opportunities”. Kirk and Chris pointed at the 3Q TD by Terrell Zackery as the turning point of the game and here’s the big miss by a national media marvel: the momentum swing in the game occurred when Auburn’s Antione Carter knocked the ball from Mark Ingram’s arms for a turnover in the second quarter. The Tigers stopped giving up TDs at that point and started scoring them on their own!
At least Ivan Maisel got it right in his column this morning but then again as a resident in the State he wouldn’t miss that. The one disappointment in Maisel’s column is his reference to “style points”. The past two weeks, nearly the entire season, the media has pointed to the Iron Bowl as the one win Auburn needs to get respect. They get the win in an historic fashion and now they need “style points?” I didn’t read the reference as the author’s opinion, just disappointed that the phrase reared it’s ugly head.
I’m really curious on the ESPN tune this morning on Gameday. Last night ESPN’s highlight reels didn’t show Nick Fairley’s sack of Greg McElroy that casused a fumble in the red zone nor Emory Blake’s TD catch in the 2nd quarter. Auburn turned the Tide then, not the third quarter. And while we’re at it, the highlight reels didn’t show the other 4-5 sacks of McElroy, nor the BS unsportsmanlike penalty on Auburn that eventually led to Alabama’s third TD. Alabama threw everything they had at us in the first 20 minutes of that game and it wasn’t enough. Once Auburn woke up, the game was over.
Just in case you haven’t seen the Internet today, here’s a few more sources to check out on the game:
- An article I may take in to the office from Sports Illustrated.
- Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News does a great take on comeback vs. collapse.
- Front pages from Alabama newspapers.
- Morning after biscuits and gravy finds nice footage of the celebration in Tuscaloosa.
War Eagle everyone. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend.
Update: ESPN Gameday started… props to the crew for providing more detail on yesterday’s Iron Bowl. Seems as though the crew is giving Auburn a nod as a legitimate contender. Hmm, that has to hurt.
