Tuesday, November 27, 2012

4TH DOWN HEAVEN IN WEST VIRGINIA


Oklahoma 50 West Virginia 49
When Landry Jones connected with Kenny Stills on 4th down to give the Sooners a one-point lead with 24 seconds to play last Saturday night in Morgantown, my only thought was...I sure hope we didn’t leave too much time on the clock
I wasn’t expecting to be late to the airport, nor did I expect that arriving 45 minutes before departure instead of the requested hour would be considered an act of terrorism, but it felt like it. I didn’t expect that the $9 in flight meal would be any good…nor was I surprised that I ate the mystery meat and cheese breakfast blob anyway.  I never dreamed that I would be on an American Airlines flight that arrived on time, or that our luggage would make it if I was.  I certainly couldn’t have imagined that the Pittsburg, PA weather would be in the mid-fifties in late November…but all of that was indeed the case upon arrival at Pittsburg International Airport last Friday morning. 

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the 27th largest city in the United States.  Located in the southwest part of the state, Pittsburg is home to some 300,000 residents with a seven county metropolitan population of just over 2.5 million people.  The city is of triangular shape, stamped by the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers. 
From the airport, Pittsburgh is roughly 15 miles or so. Just before you get to downtown, you enter the Fort Pitt Tunnel.  Upon exiting the tunnel, downtown Pittsburgh practically explodes into view. The New York Times cited it as “the best way to enter an American city” and I won’t argue.  I was very surprise and impressed with how beautiful Pittsburgh is…an impression that no doubt was influenced by the unseasonably warm weather.  Pittsburgh only averages 60 days of sunshine a year…to think we got three of them in late November was evidently a minor miracle according to the locals.
The first stop was for lunch at the legendary Primanti Brothers sandwich shop (www.primantibros.com).  Open 24 hours a day, Primanti Brothers is one step above a dump…think dingy yet comfortable.  Pictures of local legends adorn the walls while waitresses dressed head to toe in Steelers garb work the counters. The waitress who I was evidently bothering…was horribly unattractive, but made up for it with a really shitty attitude.  Any attempt to engage in small talk or God forbid ask a question was grounds for ridicule or even banishment…in other words…the place was awesome!
I got the pastrami and cheese, which comes with slaw, tomatoes and of course French fries.  When I say slaw and fries, I don’t mean with it, I mean ON it…whether you like it, want it or not. The picture below is half my sandwich.  I am either proud or embarrassed to say that I finished the whole thing…like I said, I was hungry.  I was also afraid that the waitress might punch me if I didn’t finish it after having had the nerve to ask her if the pastrami was any good or not.  I’m convinced that if they had known I was a Cowboys fan, I might have been taken out back and beaten.  I smiled when I left because I had already decided I would be back the next day to order the roast beef and tell her that I heard Franco Harris was a cross-dresser. Good times.

 
The drive from Pittsburgh to Morgantown, West Virginia is 75 miles. Other than having to dodge a recliner that fell out of the back of a pick-up truck…and the fact that gas stations don’t sell beer, the drive was as pleasant as it was uneventful. 
Morgantown, with a population of just fewer than 30,000, is about10 miles inside the W. Va. border, stationed on the bank of the Monongahela River.  It is 208 miles west of D.C, 204 miles east of Columbus, Ohio, just south of the Mason-Dixon Line and home to West Virginia University.
I wasn’t expecting 7-2 Oklahoma vs. 5-4 West Virginia when I booked this trip back in July.  I didn’t envision that OU would have lost two home games, nor would I have expected the Mountaineers to be riding a five game losing streak.  I didn’t believe that I would be traveling 1,050 miles to watch 1,440 yards of combined total offense, nor did I think that I would be using 50,000 airline miles to fly three hours so I could drive a rented Kia across two states in order to watch a converted slot receiver rush for 344 yards on only 21 carries…but that is what I would be doing at Milan Puskar Stadium last Saturday night. (Yes, that is the stadium name!)
THE GAME…OR SHOULD I SAY…THE TRACK MEET
First, let me just say that the West Virginia fans were possibly the nicest, most hospitable and welcoming fans I have ever been around save Nebraska.  You couldn’t go 10 yards without a Mountaineer fan stopping you to shake your hand, welcome to you Morgantown or thank you for coming.  It was almost frustrating!  All the niceness exhibited last week was such a stark contrast to the way they acted at the 2007/08 Fiesta Bowl.  Either these people have made a conscious effort to change or they belong in the bipolar Hall of Fame with all the girls I dated in the ‘90’s.
Well….we won.  But while I wrote that last sentence Tavon Austin just gained another 38 yards)
*EFENCE WAS OFFENSIVE
Simply put, it was the worst *efensive performance in Oklahoma Sooners football history.  That is not an opinion that is a statistical fact.  The Mountaineers accumulate* 771 total yar*s of offense. The OU *efense gave up three ‘*rives’ of over 90 yar*s. Opinion wise, it is mine that it was the worst *efensive scheme and *efensive effort I have witnesse* in some time.  Was there ever a thought of an *efensive a*justment or was Mike Stoops just going to keep a**ing more *efensive backs until all 11 players ha* jersey numbers under 40?  (No, I didn’t misspell all the words that have *.  No those aren’t typo’s either…I just figured if the Sooners weren’t going to play any D, then why should I type with any?)
Mike Stoops isn’t doing Tony Jefferson or Aaron Colvin any favors with the scheme he tried to employ Saturday night.  Stoops had Jefferson lined up in more positions than Tommie Lee did Pamela Anderson on their honeymoon.  I saw TJ at middle linebacker, safety, left defensive tackle, second chair trumpet and assistant trainer…and unless his assignment is to chase the tailback until the Mountaineer band plays Country Road’s, then I would have to say that he was just as exposed as Pamela was as well…either way, it about screwed us all. (Tavon Austin on the carry, gain of 27 yards)
The closest the Sooners defensive front seven ever gets to a QB is when they bump into Sooner back up QB Drew Allen on their way back to the bench.  In an effort to try and compensate, the Sooners are blitzing with their nickel or dime d-back…or one of the other 7 defensive backs Stoops seems hell-bent on having in the game at the same time…which leaves Colvin on an island with the other team’s best wide receiver.  I don’t care how good a cornerback you are…if a major college QB has all day to throw, he will expose you. (Tavon Austin on the carry, gain of 41 yards)
OFFENSE
-Congrats to my ex-QB Landry Jones.  I have been hard on the kid, but I will give him his due…he was composed and rock solid down the stretch.  He had his usual one horrific throw, and a couple others that could have been crippling…but he was awesome down the stretch…
-Our offensive line is so devastated by injuries that I am a biscuit away from being a right guard….while they were unable to do much as far as a running game is concerned…Landry threw the ball 51 times without being sacked. 
-Kenny Stills…wow…best game as a Sooner.
-BellDozer almost cost us the game, not him personally, but the scheme.  It seemed more a drive and momentum killer than an effective way to extend a drive…I think it is a valuable weapon, but think that the coaches tend to over-think it and get too cute at times with the package.
-Sooners were out-coached….again.
-The Sooners came back to win a game they trailed in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2007.  The last fifteen times OU had trailed in the fourth they had lost.
SPECIAL TEAMS AND OTHER THINGS
-Brendan Clay didn’t do much at RB, but it was his 46 yard return that set up the game winning drive for the Sooners. He finished with 3 returns for 86 yards. Roy Finch also got into the act as he had 3 returns for 76 yards helping set up a Sooner score…speaking of Finch…what the hell did that boy do to end up so deep in the dog house?
-The sell beer at Milan Puskar Stadium…but other than that, the stadium is a 5 on a scale of 1-10.  I always seem to take for granted what we have facility wise until I go to road games.  Our stadium is really sweet comparatively.
-High marks for the pepperoni roll at the Puskar concession stand. (Tavon Austin on the carry, gain of 71 yards)
…As it turns out, Landry’s sixth TD pass of the night would be the game winner.  24 seconds wasn’t enough….but I wouldn’t have wanted to give them 34 seconds, I can tell you that!
“50-49…almost heaven, West Virginia, take me home, down country roads” (Tavon Austin on the carry, gain of 67 yards)

Just the Opinion of One Mildly Interested Guy
The Overweight Armchair Sooner
Buddy Putty

 

 

 

 

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