http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_vpfblTqng
At first the War Chant was kind of catchy, almost captivating…cool even…but now…not so much. Now was having just watched Florida State score a touchdown on 3rd and 26 to tie the score at 13-13. Now was watching the momentum swing in FSU’s favor like a garnet and gold tidal wave. Now was watching the Sooner offense take the field, deep in its own territory after a rather uninspired attempt at returning the kickoff. Now the FSU War Chant was relentless, haunting…like the sound track you hear in a horror flick right before someone goes outside to see what is wrong. Now was when Sooner teams of recent years would make a mistake that would cost them a game. Now, OU was turning into Custer and Doak Campbell Stadium was looking more and more like their football Little Big Horn. Most of all, the Seminole War Chant was just loud…couldn’t hear myself cuss loud. Now was 9:24 to go in the fourth quarter…1st and 10 Sooners from their own 17 yard line. Then now...is when it happend.
Turns out that now…was when the Sooners would make all of that negative a back then. Turns out that Now would be an exorcism of recent road demon disasters, like kickoff returns in Missouri and safetys in College Station. Now was when a QB would grow up, a DB would wise up, a LB would heal-up...and two All-American receivers would man up. Now was when the Sooners would take a crucial step toward reaching their ultimate goal…National Title #8. Then..their crowd was loud...Now their crowd was silent. Some say silence can be golden…but it sounded a lot like Crimson to me.
PRE-GAME
 |
| Nick and Jan Waller |
 |
| The Downtown Get-Down |
 |
| The OAS with the FSU Pom-Pom Squad |
On Friday nights before home games, the city closes down a couple of streets and has what they call the “Downtown Throw-Down” or "Get-Down" or "Hoe-Down" or something. Standard blocked off street type activities…beer, souvenirs, cellular service booths, large fury mascots of unknown origin scarring little children…and of course, a chance to have your picture made with the FSU Pom-Pom girls.
The Sooner Nation showed up in full force, as usual…Always amazed and impressed at the way our fans follow and support this team on the road.
 |
| The Tomahawk |
 |
| Doak Campbell Stadium |
 |
| Terry, Nick and The OAS |
I can’t ever remember an atmosphere this electric, this anticipated, this talked about…this early in the season. Seminole fans were quick to point out that they had not had this type build up, this type emotion in 10 years. ‘Noles fans felt like their team was back…and this was a chance to prove it. I do think they are good, but ran up against a team in OU, that I think has a chance to be special.
Game day was spent at a couple local bars…The Tomahawk and Potbellies…the local version of Brothers and O’Connell’s.
Doak Campbell Stadium is deceptively large. It is a single deck stadium, with 89 rows…I know because we sat on it...with the 50 yard line splitting our four seats. Like I have already mentioned, the crowd was very good, very loud. They have some cool traditions….the biggest of which is Chief Osceola, like he does in real life, leads the Seminoles out of their west end-zone tunnel. When he and his paint horse, Renegade reach mid-field, the horse rears up its front two legs before Osceola throws down his fiery spear into the logo at mid-field. This tradition was recently voted the best in college football. I feel certain that our fake, fury, horse-pig, absolute jokes of a mascot were a close second…but I don’t know that for a fact.
Videos:
Pre-game build up:Game day was spent at a couple local bars…The Tomahawk and Potbellies…the local version of Brothers and O’Connell’s.
Doak Campbell Stadium is deceptively large. It is a single deck stadium, with 89 rows…I know because we sat on it...with the 50 yard line splitting our four seats. Like I have already mentioned, the crowd was very good, very loud. They have some cool traditions….the biggest of which is Chief Osceola, like he does in real life, leads the Seminoles out of their west end-zone tunnel. When he and his paint horse, Renegade reach mid-field, the horse rears up its front two legs before Osceola throws down his fiery spear into the logo at mid-field. This tradition was recently voted the best in college football. I feel certain that our fake, fury, horse-pig, absolute jokes of a mascot were a close second…but I don’t know that for a fact.
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eh0AceT5WcM&feature=related
Oklahoma Sooners Intro Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jCNOhRjdjs&feature=related
Osceola/FSU Mascot Tradition:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNFGfUYCBs&feature=related
THE GAME RECAP
OFFENSE
The opening drive was a thing of beauty. We seemingly have the ability to be more balanced this year…best running game since AD left. Even though the Sooners were unable to score a couple times running the ball inside the 10….the drive in the forth quarter that resulted in the game clinching field goal was huge. 8 straight running plays to run the clock and get close enough for Stevens to kick the ugliest field goal in college football history. Landry Jones still made two poor throws that resulted in INT’s…but all of that was forgotten with “The Drive’. His 3rd and 12 strike to Broyles over them middle while being pressured was NFL good. Yes, his pass to Stills for the touchdown hung up a bit…but it got there…unlike the “bullet” throw that missed a wide open Stills at A&M last year. Best of all (IMO) was how Landry handled the pressure and noise to lead this team. Again, I cannot stress to you how loud it was in the stadium...In my opinion he seems to be dealing with "the moment" much better than he has in the past.
The offensive line at times…dominated…except for Lane Johnson at right tackle. Johnson’s inexperience was exposed by the FSU defensive end. He will get better. Stephenson, Good & Habren were great in my opinion.
I am on the record as saying that I thought Kenny Stills was a star…and he proved it Saturday night. With Ryan Broyles battling the flu (but still coming up big), KS stepped up big time, making two highlight real catches. Kenny Stills makes it tougher for teams to automatically double team Broyles. I was surprised our Tight Ends were not more involved…but with Stills and Broyles combining for over 14 catches…it didn’t matter.
Stills TD Catch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTgoypNKa4&feature=related
DEFENSE
Wow. Impressive.
I was as surprised as everyone else to see Travis Lewis suited up during pre-game. He is not at 100% obviously, but just having him out there makes my blood pressure drop back down to the double-by-pass level.
I thought the defensive line played as well as I have seen them play since Tommy Harris was here. Sooner Nation….please allow me to introduce you to R.J. Washington. R.J. has recently come out of the witness protection program to record sacks in consecutive games.
The Noles TD was a fluke…but the secondary is giving up to many flukes. A week after having three major coverage breakdowns, Javon Harris made two huge game changing plays…and was voted The Big 12 Minus 2 Conference defensive player of the week.
Tom Wort was everywhere. His tip and interception I thought was the play of the game.
Tom Wort Interception:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2LpBEiJeSM
SPECIAL TEAMS
Close, but...Noles came within inches of returning the kickoff for a TD right after OU’s first TD.
Tress Way = All American
Jimmy Stevens = Blind Date….you never know what your gonna get or whether or not you are going to score…Hell, with Stevens, sometimes you just hope no one gets hurt. Yes, he was three for three on field goals…and that is all that matters...but wow….the last one may have been the ugliest score since Julia Roberts woke up next to Lyle Lovett. The video below showing Stoops' reaction to the kick is priceless.
See Stoops reaction to Stevens last field goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCUHAgiOCSY
SCATTERSHOOTING SUMMARY
It was nice to win a football game in the state of Florida again…Saturday night’s victory broke a three game Sunshine State losing streak (Miami, Florida & USC).
While it would have been nice to win by a more comfortable margin…the way the Sooners won this game could really pay big dividends down the road. I thought this was the gutsy win since maybe the 2000 A&M win in College Station.
This OU team is physical on both sides of the football.
Heupel needs to figure out a new signal or silent indicator for the shotgun snap...clearly, the Seminoles were picking up on it and getting such a big jump I thought they were off-sides.
Love the way Whaley, Millard and Clay run the football.
Travis Lewis is IMO the unquestioned leader of this team…and may go down as one of the best team leaders in school history…(cause I spend so much time in the locker room makes me qualified to say that)
Stoops is really cracking down on player post play celebrations…just ask Casey Walker
Just the Opinion Of One Mildly Interested Guy
Buddy Putty
The Overweight Armchair Sooner
PRE-GAME
No comments:
Post a Comment