Saturday night at the Bowls

With the fire burning to warm the Aerie, I settled down to watch the evening/night football games.

First up was the Arkansas vs East Carolina game. Nothing really unusual about this game--except the kicking. And that it went into overtime. How they got to overtime is a strange, strange story.

The game was played in very cold, but not frigid conditions in Memphis, Tennessee. At kickoff the mercury hovered around 32 degrees with a wind of 15 mph or so, but the temperatures fell throughout the game. As a result the ball was hard from the cold and inelastic and it didn't carry as far as it normally would. Early on, place kicker Ben Hartman of East Carolina was asked to attempt a field goal from around 50 yards. It was within his range and he hit it well and true...only to see it fall just short. It was an omen.

That miss was just the beginning of Hartman's woes. While Hartman and the Arkansas kicker Alex Tejada would succeed in making field goals (one each in regulation), the score would be tied 17-17 with 1:09 left in the game when Hartman's real odyssey into misery would begin. As he stepped up to attempt a go ahead FG from around 38-39 yards out, the temperatures had dropped to 25 degrees. He hit the ball well, but the kick clanged off the left upright. No good.

Arkansas took over but three incomplete passes ran almost no time off the clock. A short punt and a long return set it up for Hartman to have another chance from around 38-40 yards out. Again he missed--this time wide right--as time expired.

Arkansas won the toss to start overtime and, as a result East Carolina was on offense first. When they came down to a 4th and 2 on their first series, it was time for Ben Hartman to step up to the plate--again. And as he had in the previous two attempts he missed from around 40 yards out--wide right again.

Arkansas went on the offensive and managed a first down before stalling and having to call on Alex Tejada who managed a 37-yard FG to end the game.

Final score: Arkansas 20, East Carolina 17.

******

I'll confess, I didn't watch the entire Alamo Bowl game between Texas Tech and Michigan State. I couldn't stand the frequent references to the Mike Leach/Adam James saga. That and once it got to be midnight here at the Aerie, I turned into a pumpkin and hit the sack. (It was 6.1 degrees at the time and I feared going birding in the morning. More on that later.)

I watched the first half and a little into the second. Seeing the Texas Tech offense function, is a unique experience. First off, their offensive line uses the entire width of the field. And I'm talking about the interior five not just splitting a receiver or two out wide. From tackle to tackle, they seem to stretch from one yard stripe to the other. In fact, they appear annoyed if they get squeezed between the markers and the side line. Each lineman is a good five or six feet from his neighbor. You would think the defense would find this porous, yet they seldom get through the gaps to reach the quarterback. In a large part this is because the QB seldom holds the ball for more than two seconds. He's either handed it off to the running back or passed it to one of the wide receivers on a quick screen. The linemen are seldom stationary during the quick screens. One shot at the defense and off they go to block in front of the receiver. If the defense blitzes the running back picks up the extra rusher while an end will slide into the area the linebacker or corner just vacated. Texas Tech seemed able to reel off 8, 9, 10 yards on every play and Michigan State couldn't find a way to slow them down. When Tech kept it on the ground, Baron Batch was gaining 4 or 5 yards. (He finished the game with 22 carries for 100 yards.) Starting Tech QB Taylor Potts completed 29 of 43 tosses for 372 yards (an Alamo Bowl record) and one INT and two TDs before a sprained ankle forced him out of the game. His replacement, Steve Sheffield was 9 for 11 for 88 yards and one TD.

Despite their offense (31 first downs? and 579 yards total), Tech still had to come from behind after Brett Swenson's 44-yard field goal put Michigan State ahead early in the fourth quarter, 31-27. Luckily, Sheffield was able to direct two fourth quarter scoring drives to cement a 41-31 victory.

If only the ESPN coverage could have focused upon the game being played on the field instead of the soap opera of former coach Leach; wide receiver James and his dad, Craig James of ESPN; and the Texas Tech Chancellor's decision to fire Leach on Thursday.